


aren't i as cute as this dog?

by taiyounoko



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dogs, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slight Romcom Vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-20 01:13:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11910132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taiyounoko/pseuds/taiyounoko
Summary: Hinata really likes showing Kageyama pictures of dogs, and Kageyama doesn't understand why it makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Or, for that matter, why Hinata wants him to call Hinata cute.A fluff kagehina fic that focuses on their dual development, with some support from the Karasuno team.





	1. Erasure of the Gracious Tradition

Bzz. 

Kageyama Tobio rarely gets texts; but tonight, it seems, his phone wants to erase this gracious tradition from his daily life. 

He must’ve gotten three texts already, and he doesn’t know why it keeps vibrating on his desk. He just wants to go to bed. Maybe, it’s his teammates’ group chat they cursedly created, solely for the purpose of sending weird pictures to each other and making him and Tsukishima mad over their immaturity.

Bzz. Bzz. 

It really doesn’t want to stop. And so, reluctantly, Kageyama gets up from his bed, groaning as his muscles protest the movement- the residue of a strenuous practice, he notes with an internal grin- and he lifts warm blankets off himself to take a step onto the chilly flooring to make his way over to his desk.

Bzz, it rings again, as if begging him to lose his temper. Kageyama mutters a curse to himself as he checks the screen, at first blinded by it, contorting his eyebrows all sorts of ways before he can look directly at it.

Hinata Shouyou, LINE, it reads, with a lock screen covered in random, cut-off messages.

“Fuck,” Kageyama murmurs to himself, unlocking his phone and ignoring the small wave of _something_ that passes over him as he sees his closest teammate’s name pop up in his LINE app. The screen is covered in bubbles and text, and he struggles to read it with his bleary vision. Kageyama scratches his eyes, before forcing his eyes to read the text on the screen.

It’s a link to a YouTube video, followed by his name repeated in caps and choppy incorrectly spelled versions of it. As well as:

“DOG

KAGE

Y

AMA DOGS DOG DOG DOG PLS LOOK

AT TE DOG AHH”

Kageyama narrows his eyes, clutching his phone tighter. He doesn’t know what Hinata is getting at, but he gives into curiosity, clicking the link. His phone switches to the YouTube app, and then opens a video.

Two pugs. That’s all it is. Kageyama huffs. He looks at the title of the video, and it mentions something about cuddling. Why did Hinata even send this to him? The pugs are just sleeping next to each other, and-

And one of them shifts under the other one, as if to snuggle closer. 

And the only word Kageyama can use to describe it is _fucking adorable_. Okay, well, that’s two words, but he should be allowed to break the rule for this instance, because he doesn’t know how to handle how overwhelmingly fucking cute the two dogs are. The video has finished, but he’s staring at the screen, almost expectantly.

His phone buzzes again, and a notification pops up- from Hinata, of course- and it reads, “DID U WATCH”. 

Kageyama clicks replay to watch the video one more time and experience that wonderful chest clench just once more, before responding to Hinata’s text.

“yes,” is all he writes back. 

Not a second passes before Hinata is yelling responses back at him.

“OH MY

GO

KAGEY

AMA OW WAS IT OMG ISN’T IT ADORABLE AND CUTE AND AMAZING???”

Kageyama scowls. When feelings are forced upon him like this, he doesn’t like being honest. Admitting it makes him feel like he’s lost, somehow. And Hinata knows that, probably, and he’s just testing him. Probably.

“I guess,” Kageyama responds. Even he knows he’s being disagreeable, but he can’t help it.

Hinata replies, again.

“UR SO DUMB OMG HOW COUDL U THE PUGS ARE CRYING

UGHHHHHHHH”

Kageyama types a response back that’ll get an irritated answer back, he’s sure.

“If you wanted a dramatic response you should’ve just sent it to the team’s group chat

why did you just send it to me?”

It makes him feel a little weird; nervous, maybe- to call out Hinata like this. But, he does it anyway, because it’s over text and Hinata can’t see his current expression. 

He might be a little pink- but that’s only because it’s hot and he’s sleep-deprived. Clearly.

Kageyama begins to wonder if maybe, Hinata fell asleep, because there’s no response for a while- although that doesn’t seem possible with the amount of excitement that was radiating off his phone just moments ago.

Just as Kageyama is about to get off his desk chair and head back to bed, his phone buzzes.

“I SENT IT TO U B C U SAID U DONT REALLY LIKE ANIMALS

ND U ALWAYS IGNORE ME IN THE GROUP CHAT

SO

I 

WANTED TO SEE IF UD LIKE IT THIS TIME

BUT I GUESS NOT”

Kageyama narrows his eyes at the set of texts. He knows Hinata can be passive aggressive, but over text, it just serves to irritate him more. Kageyama begins to type back a response angrily, cursing each time he has to go back and fix a typo.

“I never said I didn’t like it, dumbass

And when you send stuff in the group chat, I do open your shit. I just don’t say anything because other people are yelling about it so I doubt they need my input”

Kageyama glares at his screen for a moment, before adding,

“the pugs are cute. dumbass”

To his long tirade. For some reason, this entire venture feels exhausting, despite being a high school volleyball player, and a regular on the court at that. Kageyama takes his phone with him to his bed, lying down and pulling the covers over himself as he waits for Hinata’s response. 

The only problem is, there is no response. Five minutes pass, and then seven, eight; nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

“What the hell, Hinata,” Kageyama murmurs to himself, worming into his blankets and gazing with filmy eyes at his bright cell phone. He just wants to go to bed- needs to, he never gets less than seven hours of sleep, and he’s already pushing six and a half- and as his eyes begin to close, he sees the pugs snuggling next to each other in the back of his eyelids, and he whispers, “Dumbass,” before falling to a deep sleep.

-

When Kageyama awakens, he’s not expecting the eighteen new messages from Hinata. Maybe he was expecting a message- a “Lol” or two- but nothing to this extent. 

He has a little time before he needs to start getting ready, so he unlocks his phone to find his entire screen covered in a vertical pillar of white LINE bubbles.

“What the fuck,” Kageyama whispers to himself, scrolling through the long chain of single-letter messages from Hinata. Usually, Hinata pulls things like this in the group chat; not often does he try to irritate Kageyama directly like this.

“U-R-S-O-S-T-U-P-I-D-I-H-A-T-E-Y-O-U”

Kageyama narrows his eyes, glaring at the screen as if it’ll disintegrate into dust if he does it long enough. He doesn’t know what, exactly, he did to deserve this. If anything, he’d been expecting Hinata to shower him with a chorus of condescending praise after admitting the pugs were cute- but instead, he just took to one of his usual, peevish insults.

Why?

Kageyama frowns, then thinks of something. What if he just sends back an image of a dog, instead of an actual message? What would he do?

Kageyama gives into simple curiosity, searching up, “grinning pug,” into his phone’s web browser before going through the image results. Most of them look ridiculous and far too silly for someone like him to be sending to someone like Hinata. If anything, Hinata would use it to make fun of his awkward attempt at the humor of modern society.

So he doesn’t choose one that’s too absurd. Instead, Kageyama settles for [one](http://buzzsharer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/two-pug-hugs.jpg) that looks cute enough to be innocent, and not overtly irritating or condescending. There are two pugs in the picture, with one pulling the other one down with its mouth.

Kageyama sends it, with the comment: “You and me”. And again, he tries to ignore the feelings that erupt in his stomach. Maybe Hinata will think he’s being weird? Maybe Hinata will think Kageyama is way too awkward to handle and just ignore him. Maybe-

Bzz. 

Hinata answered quickly. Really quickly. Almost too-

Kageyama takes a deep breath. He needs to calm down- he’s getting worked up for no reason.

“which one is u and which one is me?”

It’s a simple question. To be honest, when Kageyama takes a good, long look at it again, he sees how it might be confusing. But, he quickly clears up Hinata’s confusion with his original interpretation of the image.

“you’re the one that’s biting my face off

like how you attacked me last night because i was right about the pug

dumbass”

Feeling satisfied, Kageyama tries to set his phone down on his desk to start getting ready for school. As soon as he’s disrobed and started putting on his school blazer, Hinata is firing back a reply, and Kageyama definitely doesn’t pick up his phone too quickly at the buzzing noise.

“what so ur saying ur the one with the tongue handing out???”

Kageyama scrolls up to check the picture to make sure that yes, he is the one with the tongue hanging out.

“yes”, he replies, to which he earns a quick response.

“ugh ur not that cute lol”

Kageyama feels his heart pound in his chest. It’s like someone just slammed a drum inside of him.

Hinata. Hinata, of all people, did not just call him cute. Or, at least, associate him with the word ‘cute’ in any way. Because that would mean Hinata had thought of him with the word ‘cute’ before, and that made his hands get sweaty and his chest start beating away like a jackhammer.

He needs to stop this, now. His feelings- well, no, there was no way in hell Kageyama was feeling anything, no- have to stop.

“fine. this is you then” 

Kageyama attaches an [image](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f9/8c/30/f98c307d07f4d2e42f593960464b4f5e--pug-pictures-pug-life.jpg) of a sleeping pug that looks silly and ridiculous, with its face squashed up against the couch it’s sleeping on. Its awkward posture should be cute, but it's more so dumb than cute. Like Hinata, Kageyama thinks.

Kageyama has enough time to pack his bag with his necessary school supplies and notes before his phone distracts him once more.

“so ur calling me cute??”

His phone drops from his hands. It lands with a clatter against his desk that snaps him out of his shock, bringing him back to the reality of his stuttering heart and trembling thumbs.

Is this intentional on Hinata’s part?

“What NO, that pug looks so dumb, not cute”

Kageyama makes sure to send it as fast as he can. He cannot have Hinata thinking that he, Kageyama Tobio, goes around calling people cute. Especially people his age. _Guys_ his age.

“but that pug is so cute wtf Kageyama”, Hinata replies. Then,

“the pug can be dumb and cute yknow”

To which Kageyama replies,

“Mostly dumb”

Kageyama is now sitting at his desk chair, firing off responses to Hinata. When a response doesn’t come immediately, as they have been coming before, he stares at his phone, scowling. Hinata must be caught up on something. Changing, probably.

The reply is quite unexpected.

“OMG SO U JUST CALLED ME CUTE!!!”

 _“No!”_ Kageyama shouts, with only his bare walls to witness. He starts to shoot back a reply, but his hands are trembling, and he keeps typing the wrong words, and he mutters curses under his breath. 

“I DID NOT”, Kageyama shoots back, continuing to type, of which Hinata interrupts with another text.

“yes!! u said the pug was mostly dumb BUT ALSO CUTE TOO!! HAHHAH U CALLED ME CUTEEEE”

Kageyama narrows his eyes at his phone, trembling with nerves and everything else that makes him want to punch a wall. He has no idea why Hinata has him so riled up from just a conversation over text, and why he keeps trying to assume Kageyama thinks he’s cute.

“I DIDN’T DUMBASS

I NEVER HAVE AND I NEVER WILL”

He’s panting, like he just ran some marathon, when in reality he’s just argued with Hinata whether he thinks Hinata is cute. Fucking cute. 

He wants to get ready, and he starts to stand up, but sits back down when he hears another buzz of notification.

“wellll cute is subjective”

Kageyama frowns. He’d expected a little more argument, a little more retaliation from the fireball that is Hinata. He doesn’t really know how to respond, so he sets his phone down to put on his much needed pants.

And brushes his teeth.

And ruffles his hair in front of the mirror. 

And still, nothing.

Kageyama huffs, ignoring the weird fluttering feeling that’s returned to his chest again. He finishes getting ready and picks up his phone and bag to leave his room.

Radio silence.

Kageyama hopes it won’t continue at practice.


	2. Radio Buzzing

It does continue at practice. If anything, seeing Hinata and physically being ignored is worse than over the phone, where ambiguity helps calm Kageyama’s anxieties. 

During their morning practice, Hinata doesn’t ask him to practice their set ups together. Instead, Hinata goes over to Sugawara to ask to practice hitting serves, during which Sugawara definitely does not see him staring at them talking. 

-

Kageyama is forced to wonder why Hinata hasn’t talked to him during practice or texted him since this morning. All it’s been is irritating and strange and completely unlike how Hinata usually is.

And he can’t stop thinking about it, even during class.

When he should be taking notes- which, to be honest, he never does, so it’s fine- he’s thinking about Hinata, which is _not_ fine. He wonders if maybe, he’s developing some strange obsession with Hinata, which would help explain the weird feelings- _feelings _\- he got during their conversation this morning.__

__He hates feelings._ _

__When the bell rings for lunch, Kageyama is welcomed with waves of dread and gratitude- for having to confront Hinata, and to be let free from the hell that is lectures, respectively._ _

__He and Hinata usually meet in the hallway, halfway between their classrooms, but as expected, Hinata isn’t there to greet him with his usual grin._ _

__Fuck. He should not be thinking about Hinata smiling._ _

__Kageyama heads in the direction of Hinata’s classroom, hoping to just find him there to make his job easier. He is not in the mood to play hide-and-seek with Hinata in the school._ _

__Luckily, when Kageyama slides open the classroom door, Hinata is in his seat._ _

__Unluckily, Hinata is hanging out with his classmates, and the moment he meets Kageyama’s eyes, Kageyama can physically see the color drain from his face and the dread sweep over his features._ _

__Hinata seems to try to ignore his presence- though it doesn’t exactly work when he keeps flitting his eyes in Kageyama’s direction- but his attempts ultimately fail when Kageyama’s presence seems to stir up a commotion among Hinata’s friends, all of whom motion Hinata towards him and usher him over._ _

__“H-hey,” Hinata stammers, sliding the door to his classroom closed behind him. His eyes are flickering all over the place, looking at anywhere but Kageyama. Hinata pokes his pointer fingers together, biting his lip. “Uhm, I’m sor-“_ _

__“Cut it out,” Kageyama snaps, while internally cursing at his tone. He doesn’t want his impatience coming off as irritation. “I mean,” Kageyama mutters, dropping his gaze from Hinata’s eyes the moment Hinata matches his stare with a questioning glance. “Don’t apologize, if you were trying to, just now.”_ _

__He can feel Hinata’s eyes on him, and the blood rising to his face seems to want to embarrass the hell out of him._ _

__“I was, but, um,” Hinata says. “Thanks…?”_ _

__Kageyama blurts out, “Why didn’t you come out to the hallway to come and eat lunch with me, like we always do?”_ _

__He did not mean to say that. He sounds like he’s desperate, and he absolutely does not beg._ _

__Hinata continues to stare at him with the same, astonished look, save for the slight pink that grows over his cheeks. “I-I thought you were mad at me,” Hinata says, hesitating. “You were ignoring me all this morning, and-“_ _

__“What? No, _you_ were ignoring me!” Kageyama interrupts. Hinata was absolutely ignoring him this morning, not the other way around._ _

__“Well, you looked super mad the whole practice, and you seemed really angry over text, so!” Hinata pouts, crossing his arms over his chest._ _

__Kageyama feels the small blow of an unexpected turn of events within his chest, and he furrows his brows. “When did I seem angry over text?”_ _

__Hinata rolls his eyes, his blush blooming darker. From anger, Kageyama reminds himself._ _

__“Oh, I don’t know, maybe when you just didn’t respond to my last text message, or when you said- or didn’t, um…” Hinata pauses. He bites his lip in a way that makes Kageyama angry, for whatever reason. Hinata’s ears appear pinker than usual._ _

__Kageyama waits a few moments, then lets out a sigh, crossing his arms. “Tell me.”_ _

__Hinata looks up at him in a way that reminds him of how small Hinata looks off the court; how the tips of Hinata’s hair barely reach his own nose and how HInata’s eyes are always looking up at him. Hinata turns his head to the side with a pout. “It’s nothing!”_ _

__Kageyama suppresses his urge to grab Hinata’s head and shake some sense into him, and mutters under his breath. He takes a deep breath, staring down at Hinata, who won’t meet his eyes._ _

__He knows he wants Hinata to mention a certain part, a certain aspect of the conversation, but he isn’t really sure which, or frankly, why._ _

__“You’re not acting like it’s nothing,” Kageyama points out. “Spit it out.”_ _

__Hinata glares up at him, and Kageyama’s caught in the anger of his eyes for a moment. “It’s nothing important to you!” Hinata cries. And that, _that_ sets off Kageyama._ _

__“Why are you deciding what I consider important, for me?” Kageyama demands, scowling. He ignores the strange feeling he gets when he sees the eyes of a small, injured animal in Hinata below him._ _

__Kageyama closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, turning away from Hinata. “Whatever. See you at practice, then,” he mutters, walking off from Hinata. His face feels hot and his heart is pounding, and he can’t begin to fathom why. More accurately: he doesn’t want to, because that means using his energy on emotions, and he doesn’t do emotions. His chest just feels tight, like he needs to go for a long run to get rid of this knot in his stomach._ _

__He shoves his hands in his pockets, huffing._ _

__-_ _

__After school practice is rough. Unlike before, Hinata will look at him, but then dart his eyes away the moment their eyes meet. He appears skittish, and Kageyama doesn’t understand why Hinata would be skittish while playing volleyball. Because Hinata during games is loud, confident, sanguine; not nervous, tense, skittish._ _

__Especially around him._ _

__There’s also the issue of the dark cloud that seems to hover over the entire team in the gymnasium. While Daichi's gaze is the visible storm that looms over the horizon, Sugawara and Asahi are the eye of the hurricane. The behaviors of both are ominous._ _

__Kageyama feels that this may very well have to do with Hinata sending him terrified glances every time he misses his set or fails a serve that he pretends to ignore._ _

__After practice is worse. Hinata sprints off to the club room, cracking jokes with Nishinoya and Tanaka- something _he_ usually does with Hinata- and while he’s helping the third years clean up, he runs into Sugawara._ _

__Shit._ _

__Sugawara stares at him, giving him a sad smile. Kageyama stares back. “I’m sure you know what we’re all thinking,” Sugawara begins, sliding a hand in his pants pocket. “You don’t have to look so worried about it, though.”_ _

__Kageyama blinks. He furrows his brows, fighting the urge to deny the allegations that have been thrown at him. They combat the waves of guilt he’s been wading in ever since practice started, though it’s been difficult pinpoint the source of them. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_ _

__He still feels that small, quiet smile of Sugawara’s that makes Kageyama want to squirm, and run far, far away from the auditorium. “I’m sure you understand that I want you to talk to him before tomorrow’s practice- before Daichi gives you a talk about it.”_ _

__Kageyama swallows. No, he certainly doesn’t want that, but Hinata- talking to Hinata is a mountain he isn’t ready to climb._ _

__“I can’t,” Kageyama says. He’s aware that he sounds like a stubborn kid, but what else can he add? It’s not like he can reveal his conversations with Hinata to his senior like some confused middle schooler who needs interpersonal help._ _

__Well, okay, maybe he does, but not regarding Hinata. He and Hinata are going to be fine._ _

__“From how you both are acting, you should talk to him,” Sugawara advises, cocking his head to the side. His smile is still there, though it comes off as colder this time. “And I’m glad you knew who I was referring to. That means you do know where the problem is.”_ _

__“I don’t!” Kageyama shouts, face flushing. Irritated at Sugawara’s smile, at Sugawara for tricking him like that with… with words, or lack thereof, at Hinata for avoiding him, at Hinata’ stupid texts about dogs, at Hinata’s dumb face, at himself for thinking about Hinata all the time._ _

__Kageyama huffs. “He’s just being an idiot because I didn’t respond to his text, or whatever. He’ll get over it.” There was also the disagreement in the hallway, but that’s not to be mentioned, because it’s not important, or at least he doesn’t feel it’s the source of Hinata’s strange behavior._ _

__Sugawara raises an eyebrow, smiling in a way that makes him appear to be amused at Kageyama’s words. “And which text was that?”_ _

__“It was the one where-“ Kageyama pauses, mouth freezing mid-sentence. It’d been the one where he said Hinata wasn’t… cute, and then Hinata responded saying that he was cute, or at least that it was an opinion depended on the individual, and then… Kageyama hadn’t known how to respond._ _

__For several reasons, he hesitates to recount to Sugawara exactly what happened. The major reason being that their conversation is private and he isn’t going to blabber everything that happens to a third year on the team._ _

__Kageyama scratches the nape of his neck. His face feels hot, but he decides to ignore it. “We- we were just arguing about something stupid. It doesn’t matter,” he mutters. There._ _

__Sugawara laughs, genuinely this time. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to embarrass you-“_ _

__“I’m not-!”_ _

__“Kageyama, your face is red,” Sugawara says, chuckling. “You know, I can tell why Hinata always wants to mess with you.”_ _

__“What-“ Kageyama gets caught on his own tongue. With the knowing way Sugawara is smiling at him, and the words _Hinata_ mix with _mess with you_ together, he knows he can’t will away the heat rising to his face with his usual cool-headed indifference. “He doesn’t-“_ _

__“And,” Sugawara continues, in his lecturing tone, “just because it doesn’t matter to you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to him. He cares about what you say more than you think he does, you know.”_ _

__Kageyama gulps. His eyes widen as he meets Sugawara’s earnest expression. He knows that even with a smile on his face, Sugawara has the uncanny ability to make anyone eat their words in a short span of time._ _

__Eat his words, he certainly has._ _

__Sugawara shifts so his hand is on his hip, and his demeanor becomes more relaxed. “It’s not that big of a deal, Kageyama. Just talk to him, and it’ll be fine.”_ _

__With a few pats on Kageyama’s shoulder, Sugawara says goodbye, and leaves the auditorium._ _

___Doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to him._ _ _

___He cares about what you say more than you think he does._ _ _

__Kageyama feels his face burn, and then some realization hits him that causes something like the feeling he gets when he sets a ball perfectly during a game to ooze deep in his chest._ _

__Hinata cares about what he thinks of him._ _

__Is that why Hinata thinks he seemed angry over text? If so, Hinata’s a complete idiot, but it makes a little more sense now, in a way._ _

__Kageyama has no clue why Hinata would care about what he thinks of him aside from his abilities in volleyball, but maybe that can be a topic he’ll discuss with Hinata later._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> miscommunications are absolutely terrible in real life, but in fics they're p great, aren't they?  
> [my tumblr hell void](http://taiyou-noko.tumblr.com/) where i will post kagehina things shortly


	3. Terms and Conditions

That night, Kageyama heads home. He’s alone, of course- Hinata flew out of the club room before he could stop him. 

He thinks back on Hinata’s strange outbursts; his odd behavior regarding the whole ‘cute’ thing that he doesn’t want to think about too much because it makes his chest buzz in a way he doesn’t like. And, how Hinata assumed he didn’t care about what Hinata had to say, in the hallway.

Even thinking back on it pisses him off, because of course he _cares_ about what Hinata wants to say, he’s not that much of an asshole, but the way Hinata’s looked at him countless times today and yesterday with some painful glint in his eyes releases the dam of guilt within his chest.

Maybe he should apologize, for acting abrasive. But then again, it’s not his fault for acting himself. It’s not something that’s easy to control, and Hinata knows that. So, that must mean Hinata isn’t frustrated with him for his outburst in the hallway, but rather their latest text conversation. 

Which was when he said he’d never call Hinata cute.

_Fuck_. His face definitely just went red. Fuck, fuck, fuck, erase those thoughts, delete, backspace them away. 

Okay, he’ll just begin his small apology by mentioning only the thing in the hallway, probably, because if he mentions the texts, he’ll probably be burnt to a crisp.

When Kageyama finally settles on his bed, it is nearly ten at night, and he isn’t sure if Hinata will be up. Truthfully, he’s hesitant to find out how Hinata will respond to his attempt to break the silence- if Hinata will be upset, or give him the silent treatment again. As a result, he hasn’t looked at his phone since he got off practice.

He turns his phone on, heart beating irregularly fast in his chest as he stares at his screen. He’s waiting for something, and the only thing he’d be waiting for on his phone is a text from Hinata, so he curses himself for being so simple-minded, like some dog waiting for its master to give him food.

He shakes his head of the image, and starts off with what he presumes is simple.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

The message delivers. There’s no indication that Hinata will reply. Hinata has been zipping back responses to him recently, especially at night, but he assumes today’s quarreling gets in the way of Hinata’s usual friendliness.

Kageyama exhales, wiping his forehead with the palm of his hand. He shifts over in bed to check his backpack to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything for tomorrow, then doing some stretches for his legs; and he still returns to nothing on his phone. He sends another series of texts; more filled with actual content, this time around.

“I don’t know if you’re mad at me but I guess I wanted to say”

“I’m sorry,” Kageyama begins to type. _Delete, delete, delete_. His face gets red as his finger mashes the delete button. God damn it, he is so terrible at anything emotional or interpersonal. The fact that he’s sending it to Hinata makes it even worse.

A minute or so passes agonizingly slowly, even for Kageyama, as he thinks of something else he can say instead. “I felt bad,” seems too casual. “I wanted to apologize,” sounds too formal.

Kageyama clicks his tongue, and in a moment of frustration, sends what he originally meant to say.

“IM SORRY”

“Shit!” Kageyama curses out loud, staring at the screen. In his vexation, he missed the button to bring up the symbols keyboard and hit the uppercase button instead.

Fuck. 

He looks like a complete idiot. This was meant to be a serious apology, or a _light_ serious apology, not a _serious_ serious apology, and it came off as a joke.

He types up an excuse for his abnormal behavior, but then he sees Hinata reply and he thinks he might shut his phone off or leave his room for a moment, because the possibilities of how Hinata’ll respond to his seemingly derisive apology are cruelly endless, and he isn’t good with dealing with the results of cruelly endless interpersonal disasters.

He doesn’t expect the response he gets.

There’s a series of crying laughing emojis, followed by:

“Kageyama oh my god

ur funny”

Kageyama ignores the feeling of several pounds being lifted off his chest, and welcomes the red anger of humiliation that floods his chest.

“ITS NOT FUNNY.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SERIOUS”

He’s pretty sure he can hear Hinata laughing on the other end.

More laughing emojis only exacerbate the heat rising to his face and the uncomfortable warmth that swirls in his stomach.

“aw kageyama thanks”

Kageyama narrows his eyes at the screen, and the hypothetical Hinata he can see in his mind.

‘Aw?’ Aw, Hinata said. That word makes him feel weird.

“Don’t ‘aw’ me dumbass I’m being serious.”

“oo serious mr. kageyama~

ehehe”

Kageyama glares at the screen.

“I felt bad because you’ve been acting strange all day and I kind of realized what I did, I was a dick in the hallway

So just shut up and accept my apology”

_Please,_ he thinks in his mind, but doesn’t dare type over text.

His phone buzzes.

“i do accept u big dumb loser :)

except can u say one thing for me then?

and ill accept 100%”

What now? Then again, what could be worse than what he’s already said, Kageyama thinks. For him, there is no deeper hell than trying to give a genuine apology, and having it accidentally come off as a joke; if he can get through that, then what else could be worse?

“say I look like this dog”

[An image](http://www.pbh2.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/shiba-inu.jpg) of a dog appears below Hinata’s text. A Shiba dog. It has orangey hazel fur, and a happy pink tongue that lolls from the corner of its mouth.

Kageyama thinks that this is the first time he’s ever seen a dog smile, and he gulps. He stares at his screen, with some expression bordering the line of curiosity and confusion, and wonders if there’s some secret message in the image that he isn’t getting- if there’s some social cue here that he’s missing.

An idea pops up in his head.

“Why do you need me to say that

Why do you care about what I think?”

He hopes that does the trick. He watches the screen with a small smirk- a hallmark of mental repose- for the first time since he texted Hinata nearly 15 minutes ago.

“um well

ur opinion is important to me as my 

partner in volleyball”

Kageyama scrunches up his eyebrows. Bullshit.

He only knows this from the way Hinata texts in his text-version of real-life stuttering.

“this has nothing to do with volleyball, hinata.”

If he were talking to Hinata in real life, he knows this is the point where Hinata’d angrily puff air out of his nose and his face would go all red.

“WELL I JUST WANNA HEAR IT AS A FRIEND

BAKAGEYAMA”

Kageyama wants to laugh at the texts. He wants to, but he can’t, because that would mean he’s able to willfully ignore the way his chest clenches up at Hinata’s mention of ‘friend.’

Why would he care about what Hinata calls their relationship? 

No, he doesn’t care. This is probably some leftover residue of his own previous irritation that’s showing itself in strange physical behaviors. Ignore it. Ignore it. Not doing so would be silly. Immature.

Kageyama needs to shift the topic away. And he is very confident in his abilities to distract Hinata- by giving him a little of what he wants, and then letting Hinata do his own thing. 

He sighs.

“Yeah, I guess you do look like that dog”, he texts, and he sets his phone down on his bed. He glances up at his dark ceiling, and stares at it, flashes of bending white light dancing across as cars pass by outside his window.

Hinata is doing something weird to his body, and the only thing he knows to do is to ignore his physical reactions. He places a hand on his chest. He wonders if talking to someone else about this would be an appropriate solution, but that would mean disclosing his private discussions with Hinata which he’d never do, because it’s like they’re… theirs. 

His phone vibrates a couple more times, and he groans, turning on his side. 

He falls asleep under the quiet cover of night.

-

When he wakes up in the morning, he has a slight headache, and he feels the phrase ‘woke up on the wrong side of the bed’ applies to him this morning. From the way the sunlight pierces his eyes the moment he opens them to the way his mother calls his name from downstairs, everything serves to piss him off.

He ignores the few images of random dogs that Hinata sent to him last night, with a final message of “goodnight~ c:”. He suppresses the agitation in his chest, and stumbles from his bed mumbling curses under his breath.

He arrives on school grounds with a scowl deeper than usual and an attitude far worse than most days. He’s lucky in that he came too late for his race with Hinata to the club room. 

Or so he thinks, because he enters the club room, and of course, Hinata is the only one inside.

Hinata turns to him, and Kageyama swears he smiles so bright, it’s a wonder Hinata isn’t classified as a light fixture. 

“Hey, Kageyama!” Hinata cries, waving his hand so hard Kageyama thinks he’s being sardonic, until he notices the sparkle of genuine cheeriness in Hinata’s eyes.

Kageyama’s frown grows. Hinata pauses and cocks his head to the side, still wearing a small smile. “What’s wrong?”

Kageyama ignores the cursed murky warmth in his chest again, peeling his gaze from Hinata’s face. “Nothing.” He heads towards his locker, refusing to glance in Hinata’s direction.

“Hey, why aren’t y- ow, what the hell!” Hinata shouts as Kageyama smacks him on the side of the head, without looking at Hinata in the process. Hinata moans, rubbing his temple, and Kageyama finally gives into guilt and looks to his side. Hinata massages his head for another second before he looks up and meets Kageyama’s eyes. “What’d you do that for?”

Kageyama forces his eyes away. He feels a tug in his chest to apologize and maybe pat Hinata on the head, and he does not apologize for smacking Hinata or pat him on the head for acting like an idiot. It would be highly out of character, and possibly give away his growing softness towards Hinata’s chummy behavior.

Hinata seems to understand that Kageyama isn’t going to say anything else, and he closes his locker, gaze falling to the floor. “I was going to invite you to do something fun together,” Hinata murmurs. Kageyama turns to find Hinata’s fists clenched at his sides, and his eyes widen. 

Shit. 

“I thought we were on good terms, but I guess not. Whatever.”

Truly, Hinata knows how to take advantage of his own passive aggressive nature. It’s almost impressive.

As Hinata turns away to leave the club room, Kageyama mutters, “Wait.”

Hinata's feet come to a pause.

“I-“ Kageyama adjusts the fold of his neck cuff. His own palm feels warm against his neck. “I’m just not in a good mood this morning, and you wouldn’t shut up, so-”

“Wha- are you trying to fight me? Huh?” Hinata demands, though his crossness melts to concern as he sees Kageyama’s stiffness. Hinata lowers his fists. “W-what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Kageyama states, forcing a scowl as he watches Hinata’s too-large eyes brim with worry. “Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” he mutters, moving to organize his locker.

“Oh, you okay?” Hinata asks. “Do you need something?”

Kageyama slowly turns his head, brows furrowing as he does so. He begins to doubt whether this is the Hinata he knows- the Hinata who steals his towel during break time and throws it in the water fountain, or the Hinata who bonks his water bottle upwards so it splashes all over his face while he’s trying to take a short water break.

Then again, Hinata hasn’t been himself lately, what with the barrage of messages and images of dogs.

“No, I don’t,” Kageyama answers, turning back to his locker again. “What did you want to say to me?”

“What?”

Kageyama turns his eyes to Hinata. Outright confusion. Idiot. “You said you wanted to invite me, or something.”

Hinata’s expression changes from astonishment to fake-looking apathy as he clears his throats and puts a hand on his hip. “W-well,” he begins, eyes darting around the room. Kageyama stares. Hinata’s eyes skit away when they make eye contact. “I just- well, you see, I was gonna, um-“

“Just tell me what it is already, dumbass.”

“I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house!” Hinata shouts, more so towards the floor than at Kageyama. 

Kageyama stares at the top of Hinata’s head, eyes wide and mouth partially open.

Only Hinata’s eyes glance up to look at Kageyama. Hinata bites his lip, twisting his fingers together and undoing them. “You definitely don’t have to, if- if you don’t want to, I just wanted to show you something that-“

“It’s fine,” Kageyama says, waving his hand in the air as he reaches into his locker to grab his sneakers. “I’ll go, it’s not a big deal.” He undoes the buttons of his school uniform. Hinata doesn’t say anything, so he talks to fill up the tense air. “What did you have to show me?”

Kageyama turns to Hinata. He's staring at him as if he’s seen a ghost. “What-“

“I- oh, I was just surprised that you… wanted to come,” Hinata trails off. His lips parting into a grin. “Can you come this Friday, after school? My family’s on a short vacation, so it’ll be just us! It’s a surprise!”

Kageyama finds himself caught in the headlights of Hinata’s grin, narrowing his eyes. He pauses. “I’m not busy, so sure, I can go.”

Hinata grin grows further. “Yay! I’m excited!” He does the pose he does when he’s just slammed a spike into the enemy’s court, and Kageyama finds himself wondering why he wants to grin, too, when there is truly nothing to celebrate. 

“Oh, and you’re not deathly allergic to any animals, right?”

Kageyama furrows his brows at the sudden shift of topic. “…No, I’m not,” he pauses, watching Hinata’s odd smirk. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Hinata hums, clasping his hands behind his back. “You’re just gonna be really surprised!”

“What are you-“

“Beat you to the gym!” Hinata suddenly yells, and Kageyama spews a string of curses as he stumbles on his gym shorts.

Hinata’s laughter echoes down the outer hall of the club room, and Kageyama curses the excitement in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ tumblr ](http://taiyou-noko.tumblr.com)  
>  more dog content shall follow =)


	4. Maru

When Friday arrives, Kageyama thinks he might throw up.

Not in a bad way, but he’s found that whenever he associates the ideas of _Hinata, Hinata’s house,_ and _surprise for Kageyama_ together, his stomach’s hit with waves of this strong tingling feeling that he also gets when the seniors tell them they’ll buy meat buns for them for free. Except a hundred times as strong.

The entire day, Hinata is oddly exuberant and sometimes even touchy in a way that makes Kageyama incredibly annoyed. It shows on his face, apparently, because Hinata pokes his cheek with a pointer finger, giggling, and he retaliates with his usual insults of _dumbass_ , and a high-strung heart.

Maybe this is the giddiness that the girls refer to during recess time before they go on a date.

Kageyama almost chokes on the water he is drinking from his bottle during class, receiving several odd and worried glances that he ignores.

He did not just think that. No. He’s excited for their hanging out as _friends,_ Kageyama thinks. Not a date, not a date, _never_ a date. 

-

Their walk home is oddly silent, but it is a comfortable silence punctuated with some of Hinata’s teasing and Kageyama’s cursing and Hinata’s laughter.

When they arrive at Hinata’s house, Hinata grows quiet as he approaches the front entrance. He unlocks the door and pulls it open, peeking inside in a way that makes Kageyama wonder if he’s pretending he’s breaking into his own house, before Hinata opens the door all the way and pulls in Kageyama by the wrist.

Kageyama ignores the squirming warmth in his chest.

It is when the door closes behind them that Kageyama hears frantic, loud footsteps. Like someone bolting for their life towards the door.

No, it’s more like nails clipping against wood, and it’s getting closer-

_“Arf! Arf, arf!”_

Kageyama widens his eyes, taking a slow step backwards, because there is a small _dog_ in front of him, looking up at him with black, beady eyes, surrounded by a coat of white and orangey-hazelnut fur.

A bolt of realization runs through him. It’s the dog from the picture Hinata sent him yesterday.

“Hey, Maru!” Hinata cries, rushing to the dog and embracing her with his arms. Kageyama stares, hesitating. “Maru, this is Kageyama! Kageyama, Maru!”

“…Maru,” Kageyama mutters, continuing to stare at the dog. A Shiba dog. Something like fear or dread washes over him, and he leans away. “You didn’t tell me you had a dog.”

“She’s my neighbors’! They’re going on a long vacation abroad, so they asked us to take care of her!” Hinata pets the dog’s head, nuzzling his cheek against the dog’s head, and Kageyama swallows a lump in his throat. “They’re paying us, too, even though she’s so friendly!”

Kageyama stares at the two, fists clenched and feet glued to the floor. It’s strangely difficult to breathe.

“You sent me a picture of it yesterday,” he manages.

Hinata pulls a small frown. “Not ‘it’, her!” he corrects. Hinata holds her up besides his face. “She does look like me, right?”

Kageyama looks back and forth between the two. Maybe he can see the resemblance in the hair color, and the loudness, and the bounciness, and the roundness in the face, though he doesn’t think Hinata’s eyes are quite so intensely bold. Actually, no, Hinata’s are intense- just in a different way that he can’t quite name...

Hinata’s still staring at him, head slightly turned to the side and a question in his eyes, so Kageyama nods. “Kind of.”

Hinata laughs. “I know, right?” He shifts his hold around the dog’s body and takes a step closer to Kageyama. “Come on, Kageyama, pet her!” Hinata grins. He takes another few steps closer, and Kageyama similarly takes steps back until his back touches something cold and wooden- the door. 

Hinata frowns. “Hey, don’t be like that, she loves meeting new people!” Staring at him, Hinata pales. “Wait- you’re not actually allergic, right?”

“I’m not,” Kageyama scowls. He narrows his eyes at the dog that sits in Hinata’s arms, its tongue lolling out as it reciprocates his stare. “It’s just…”

“You weren’t so afraid to send pictures of them!” Hinata points out, bringing Maru closer. He shifts his upper body around so the dog seems to dance around with Hinata, and Hinata giggles. Giggles. There is a gripping sensation in Kageyama’s chest, something warm that he wants to ignore, and he needs Hinata to stop being like that, so he sticks out his arm and places it on the dog’s head.

And lets it sit there.

The dog stares at him. She seems to be curious of what he, exactly, is doing, so he starts to rub the dog’s head, around her ears and back up near her eyes, until the dog’s lips shift into what seems to be a smile and its eyes crinkle into a pleased grin. Kageyama’s eyes widen, and he continues the movement, until he feels eyes on him. He glances up to see Hinata staring at him open-mouthed.

“What?” Kageyama demands, narrowing his eyes. He pulls his hand away from Maru’s head. She whines, waving her front paws.

Hinata clears his throat, hitting his chest and turning away. “Oh, you know, I just thought it was so rare to see you being nice to an animal! Like a rare animal sighting- ow!” Hinata yelps as Kageyama grabs Hinata’s head, glaring at him. His own hands grab Kageyama’s forearm. “Not so rough!”

Rare animal sighting. Thanks, Hinata, Kageyama thinks, and he tightens his inadvertent grip on Hinata’s head for a second before coming to a horrible realization.

Gripping Hinata’s head is like petting the dog.

Kageyama yanks his hand away like he’s touched a burning stove. He stares at his hand, and then Hinata’s confused expression as he does so. He manages, “If I’m a rare animal sighting, then you’re the uncontrollable neighbor’s dog everyone says they have.”

Hinata pouts. “What?!” he cries. Maru glances back and forth between the two with a blank expression. “What did you just-“ 

Hinata pauses as Maru shifts up to lick his chin. “Aw, Maru! Yes, I know, Kageyama is really scary,” Hinata grins, shrinking back. Kageyama defies some unspoken expectation, standing stock still and watching the sight. “By the way, I’m not some dog, despite the fact that it may be confusing because I’m as cute as Maru!”

Kageyama glances back at Hinata, feeling a wave of boldness wash over him. “Definitely,” he mutters, his chest fluttering. He kicks off his shoes and walks past Hinata and Maru.

“H-hey! Don’t ignore me!” Hinata protests, following suit. Kageyama wants to comment back, but he suppresses the words, walking down the hall. He hurries his pace. 

There is the sound of scratching against wood, and Hinata yelling “Go, Maru!”, and before Kageyama can fully turn around, there is a dog pouncing onto his leg.

“The-“ Kageyama is cut off mid-curse as he pauses and the dog freezes, staring up at him.

It’s stare is unforgiving. Kageyama stares for a few more moments, until the dog plops its lower half down on the ground, continuing to hold their stare.

“She really likes you!” Hinata laughs, trailing behind them, and Kageyama finally raises his gaze to meet Hinata’s. “She was leaping out of my arms to go after you, so I let her!”

“Why would she…” Kageyama trails off, gaze falling to the dog. It’s not like he’s done anything for the dog, like given it treats or much affection, if what he did before could be called affection at all (in his mind, it’s not). 

“Oh, Kageyama, you’re so critical of yourself!” Hinata bends down into a crouching position below him to pet Maru’s head. “She can tell that you like her.”

Kageyama narrows his eyes at the dog, and then to the back of Hinata’s head as he pets the dog. He feels something build up in his chest, but he’s not sure what. 

“Oh.”

Hinata glances up, stands up, and smiles. “How about we eat?”

Kageyama takes a moment to blink. Then, he nods.

He wonders if something is wrong with his heart, because it won’t stop palpitating.

-

When they walk into the kitchen, that is also a dining room, Hinata demands that Kageyama sit at the table and wait as he cooks. Kageyama puts up a front of protest because simply _waiting_ makes him fidget to do something, though luckily Maru, the dog, is there to entertain him.

Or, for him to entertain her, because most of what he does is pet her head. He thinks it should feel more one-sided, but it’s oddly entertaining. The petting is interjected with Hinata’s shouts of, “Make sure you tell her she’s a good girl if she’s good! Positive reinforcement!”, and Kageyama awkwardly complying with, “Good… good girl?” 

At times, he feels eyes boring into the side of his head and turns around to find Hinata watching him, who swivels around or starts humming as if he wasn’t staring.

He totally is staring. Kageyama is sure of it, but then he’s reminded of how much Hinata fussed over the dog at their initial meeting and thinks that Hinata is watching over the dog.

Obviously. Why would Hinata stare at him? That’s a stupid idea.

Though, that make him stupid, because he tries to catch the sight of Hinata cooking for him, which feels strangely normal.

While Hinata clangs around in the kitchen and intermittently curses out loud, Kageyama continues to play with Maru. At one point, she tries to bite his wrist, making him embarrassingly yelp, and Hinata looks over and laughs while stirring something in a pan and tells him Maru’s just playing. That works out well enough until Maru slides all the way down and rolls over on the floor, exposing her stomach to him.

Maybe Hinata feels the odd spike of discomfort in the air, because he looks over and nearly bends over laughing. 

“Kageyama, she really, _really_ likes you! Oh my god, that is so cute, I need to take a picture!”

“Hinata, you are literally cooking-“

Before Kageyama can do anything, Hinata is snapping away with his cell phone.

“Hinata!” Kageyama shouts, standing up. “I told you not to-“

Hinata stares intensely at his phone, holding it close to his face, until his smile grows into one that shows his top front teeth. “Yay, I got it! This is so cute!”

“What is so cute?!” Kageyama yells, face going pink. He can’t control the rush of heat to his face. He also finds he despises saying the word ‘cute.’ He stomps over towards Hinata, who finally glances up at Kageyama, until-

_“Arf! Arf, arf!”_

Kageyama feels something pulling back his leg, and sees Maru pulling at his sock with her teeth. He tries to maneuver his leg out of the dog’s grasp, but Maru has her jaw locked.

“Kageyama, she thought you were gonna do something to me!” Hinata cries, laughing. When Maru hears Hinata’s laughter, Maru lets go of Kageyama’s leg and glances back and forth between them. “She’s so funny that way.”

Kageyama glowers and investigates the back of his foot to make sure the dog didn’t actually bite through his skin. And then, he smells something burning. He wrinkles his nose and notices the pan Hinata has been using is smoking.

“Hinata, your-“

Hinata lets out a near scream as he rushes towards the pan, flipping off the heat and raising the pan above the stove, he drops the pan to the metal with a clatter and bends down to the hip towards Kageyama. 

“Kageyama, I-I messed up, I’m so sorry, it’s all my-“

“It’s not a big deal, calm down, dumbass.” Kageyama heads over to the kitchen, ignoring the way Hinata caves into himself with every step he takes. He takes a look in the pan to confirm his suspicions- Hinata has cooked his favorite meal, curry, and the sauce is still mostly fine. “It’s salvageable.”

His chest does something funny at the fact that Hinata remembered his favorite meal. Has he told Hinata what it is before?

“You sure…?” Hinata hesitates, peering into the pan. “It smells kinda bad…”

“I’ve had some burnt curry before, it’s seriously not a big deal,” Kageyama offers. “Just avoid scooping the burnt parts with the spoon.”

“But- I-“ Hinata stammers, staring down at the pan. He bites his lip.

Kageyama furrows his brows. “What?”

“N-nothing!” Hinata covers up, waving his hands before him and plastering a fake grin that even Kageyama can read through. “I guess we can eat, um, I just…”

Kageyama stares at Hinata’s worried eyes and cowered shoulders. Then, he places his hand in Hinata’s hair, ignoring how Hinata’s shoulders jump into the air (it’s always difficult to suppress his own smirk when Hinata does things like this), though his touch is unlike his usual grips in that he pats Hinata’s hair. “Don’t worry about it. Dumbass.” 

Hinata’s eyes jump to meet his own, and Kageyama stares at the pink that blooms across Hinata’s cheeks. His hand jumps away from Hinata’s head and Hinata looks at the floor, giving a dumb smile, and murmuring, “Thanks,” before dashing away to get plates.

Kageyama thinks that the sight of Hinata blushing up close is better than petting any adorable dog or the scent of any home-cooked meal.

-

After the two eat, which includes a lot of Maru staring up expectantly at Kageyama and occasionally whining, Kageyama asking Hinata if he can give Maru anything and Hinata shaking his head no and laughing, the two settle in Hinata’s bedroom. Hinata rushes to prepare Kageyama’s futon and Kageyama sets down his bags on the floor. Maru hops back and forth between them, seeming to enjoy the sudden action of the two.

Hinata offers Kageyama to take a bath first. While showering, he takes deep breaths, willing away the sudden butterflies in his chest that make it difficult to breathe. 

By the time Kageyama returns to Hinata’s bedroom, Hinata looks ready to pass out; his eyes are drooping and his arm is curled around Maru, and Kageyama quells the sudden urge that rises in his stomach.

Hinata looks- looks _endearing_. There. He can say that as friends.

“Oh, Kageyama, you’re back…” Hinata murmurs, sitting up on his futon. Maru is asleep on Hinata’s futon. Hinata yawns, wordlessly clambering over to get a change of clothes from a corner of his room. He manages to stand up, turning to Kageyama. “Um… you can go to bed now, you know.”

Kageyama starts. He’d been still and staring. He heads towards his bad, clearing his throat. “I will. Is Maru going to stay here?”

Hinata bobs his head up and down in a nod, reaching for the door. “Yeah, she’s not supposed to, but I sleep with her… if that’s okay with you.” Kageyama gives a single nod. Hinata manages a small smile. “She won’t poop in your bed or anything.”

“Hey-“ Kageyama yells, cut off by the sound of the fusuma door sliding shut and Hinata’s giggles in the hallway. He glances down to find Maru sitting beside him. Sometime during their conversation, she moved onto his bed.

He lies down on the futon, groaning as he feels his back crack against the mat that is harder than the Western-style bed he is used to sleeping on. He gets into a more comfortable position on his side, one arm holding the pillow and the other stretched out before him. His hand almost reaches Hinata’s futon, and that is when he realizes that Hinata has put their futons oddly close to the other- in fact, there are only a few inches between their two beds. Strange.

Poof. Maru plops her entire body down on his futon, so close he can feel her fur nuzzling the skin of his arm. It’s not a bad sensation; in fact, it’s quite comforting, to feel and know that another creature trusts him enough to rest beside him. Though he doesn’t have a great clue as to what he’s done to earn the dog’s trust.

He closes his eyes, releasing a deep breath he’s been holding. He feels exhaustion weigh on his body, and falls asleep to the sound of Maru’s soft breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah kageyama lowkey trust issues is a thing. an intermittently recurring motif for u literary people  
> college started and it sucks which explains my slower posting schedule  
> [ the tumblr hell void ](http:/taiyou-noko.tumblr.com)


	5. Warmth

Warm. That is how Kageyama feels when he comes to in the morning. Warm, and cozy. The soft light that passes through the translucent white paper that covers the windows is pleasant against his waking eyes. The room isn’t too hot, and Kageyama ponders whether Hinata’s house has a ventilation system that he didn’t notice last night.

Something moves below the blanket, and he assumes it’s Maru from the downy, soft feeling that brushes against his arm. He lowers his gaze, and he becomes aware of the fact that he can’t see Hinata sleeping on his own futon. He wonders if Hinata went to the bathroom. 

And then he sees a single foot, poking out of the blanket onto Hinata’s futon. It’s not his foot, because he’s pretty sure his feet aren’t that small and pale. His eyes trail up the blanket, wherein he finds the outline of a body that isn’t his or Maru’s, and he feels something shift under his arm.The blanket slides over, pulling some of the blanket away from him.

Something cold grips his heart.

There’s no way.

Kageyama draws out his arm from underneath the blanket, which feels uncomfortably hot now, and with a quick inhale, he tugs down the blanket with the necessary discomfort of ripping off a band-aid.

Orange, poofy hair, and Hinata’s sleeping face.

“Agh!” Kageyama shouts, jumping back and accidentally pulling the blanket away with him with a whoosh, revealing the entirety of Hinata’s upper body that was previously sidled up against him just seconds ago. 

Kageyama pants as if he’s just finished a long uphill run, and his heart is pounding so fast he’s afraid it’ll leap through his chest. It physically hurts. 

The first few thoughts that run through his mind are: _why_ is Hinata sleeping with him, and _how_ did he get here? His mind moves to analyze his own reactions: dumbfounded, dazed, bewildered, safe.

 _Safe?_ No. Not safe. Well, maybe safe, because Hinata’s body against his hadn’t felt bad, in fact, maybe good-

 _No._ What is he thinking? Friends don’t sleep together and think it feels good. A wave of guilt passes over his chest, calming the previous rising panic in his heart but replacing it with a heavy weight on his chest that makes it difficult to look at Hinata.

He feels movement beside him and feels the panic rise in his chest again, though it subsides when he sees it is just Maru. His eyes rise to Hinata’s sleeping face, despite his previous pledge not to.

Serene. That is how Hinata’s face appears; his hazel eyelashes that brush underneath his closed eyelids, his soft, pale pink lips that are shut, for once, and appear oddly peaceful, and his button nose appears smaller than usual, taking in soft draughts of air.

He doesn’t realize he’s been staring until he hears a whine, and shifts his eyes to find Maru staring at him, then Hinata, then back at him, waiting with bated breath… for something, though he doesn’t know what. And then, Maru shifts over to Hinata and begins licking at his face, and Kageyama feels the chilling grip of anxiety seize his heart. 

“No, Maru,” Kageyama whispers in a hushed tone, attempting to peel off the dog away from Hinata, but then he hears Hinata moaning in the lazy morning waking kind of way, and he feels Hinata’s foot intertwined with his own, and he does only what a cool-headed volleyball setter can do.

He shoves Hinata away from him, only for Hinata to let out a pitiful squeal and latch on to his shirt in a moment of panic, and he’s being dragged down with Hinata onto Hinata’s futon. His head clashes against Hinata’s. It feels like he’s slammed rock against stone.

“Shit,” Kageyama mutters, grasping his head. Hinata’s head feels like a brick.

There’s a groan below him, and he’s snapped back to reality, where his own face is inches from Hinata’s own, very surprised face, and he jerks back, cursing the heat that gathers at his cheeks.

He can’t look at Hinata. There’s no way he can meet Hinata’s eyes. He stares intensely at the floor, as if something very interesting’s just grown out of the processed bamboo of the tatami floors.

“You-“

“You were sleeping on me first, you know!” Kageyama shouts. He still can’t look at Hinata. “You- you were on my side of the bed first!”

Hinata doesn’t have an immediate answer to that. “I-I’m sorry,” Hinata mumbles, and something drops in Kageyama's chest. “That must’ve been weird, I didn’t mean to, it was just Maru looked so cute last night sleeping with you and-“

“She was sleeping with me?” Kageyama asks, finally looking at Hinata. His eyes widen at the pitiful expression Hinata’s wearing. Compared to just minutes ago, he looks miserable, Kageyama thinks.

Hinata locks eyes with him for a second, and Kageyama sees the confusion pass through his eyes for a brief second. “Yeah,” Hinata manages. His mouth opens to speak, and then closes, and then opens again. He reminds Kageyama of a goldfish he once saw at some doctor’s office. “I-I was just trying to sleep with Maru, not with you! I-I, um, didn’t mean to sleep on your side of the futon, if that’s what’s freaking you out-“

“I’m not ‘freaked out,’” Kageyama mutters, glaring at Hinata, because glaring at Hinata is the only way he can look directly at Hinata. “It just… surprised me.”

Silence. Then, “Oh.”

More silence. Kageyama scratches his neck. Things have felt awkward with Hinata before, but not… this awkward. The silence is suffocating.

_“Arf, arf!”_

Maru jolts Kageyama and Hinata out of their mutual wordlessness, though only the latter’s shoulders jerk upwards at Maru’s sudden cry. And Kageyama can’t help the snort that tumbles from his nose, because Hinata looks like an idiot- because Hinata _is_ an idiot.

“W-what?!” Hinata yelps. He begins some defensive, stuttering self-justification, only to cut himself off the moment he sees Kageyama’s half suppressed-smirk. Hinata’s still as ice.

Kageyama cocks his head to the side, furrowing his brows. “What?”

Hinata shakes his head furiously, yelling, “Nothing!”, and jumping up. Maru also hops up, staring up with anticipation at Hinata for the sudden movement. Hinata stomps off toward the door, head low, and Kageyama asks where he’s going so early.

“To the kitchen! To make b-breakfast!” Hinata shouts towards the door. Kageyama notices the tremble of his clenched fists. Hinata swings open the door and slams it shut, so hard Kageyama feels the floor vibrate from impact.

He feels a whoosh of air from his futon.

Kageyama takes a deep breath. A mental image of Hinata inches below him crosses his mind. He sighs, and drops his head into his knees. Red hot mortification surges over him, and he feels a blush flare in his cheeks and warmth swirl within his chest.

What the _hell_ is wrong with him?

-

What doesn’t necessarily surprise him is the way Hinata acts after he spends some time in the bathroom, splashing cold water onto his face and telling himself that how he reacted was plain _embarrassment_ and nothing else, that this is how friends would normally react if put in such a situation- ignoring the fact that he’s sure neither he nor Hinata, nor anyone he knows, gets into ‘such situations’ with their friends- because Hinata seems to have returned to normal, acting like nothing just happened in his bedroom, and Kageyama knows it’s because Hinata is friendly and confident, without a care in the world of how it affects Kageyama. 

What does surprise him is the way Hinata starts acting afterwards. Sending him multiple pictures of Maru and asking him how cute he thinks she looks, texting him asking for random facts like what his favorite setting style from morning practice was when they practiced together. Kageyama thinks Hinata is strangely touchy as well, not in a teammates-kind-of-way but something _more_ -kind-of-way. Because when they high five or smack hands or do team hugs, he swears Hinata will grip his hand instead of just swat his hand, or grab his shoulder instead of pat it. It’s not that he doesn’t like it, but rather that it’s unexpected compared to his usual attitude on the court.

What’s also unnerving is that Kageyama swears he gets looks from the team. They always happen to occur when he’s looking over at Hinata, and he’ll see Yamaguchi or Sugawara smiling at him as if they know something he doesn’t, and he’ll look away with a scowl and a red face- which he’s been cursing a lot lately, because his body’s been wasting his muscle training and long distance running by sending all his blood to his face instead of his arms or legs or chest where he actually needs oxygen.

There’s one day when he’s stretching his calves by leaning his arms against the wall, his face turned to the side, and his eyes land on Hinata asking Nishinoya to practice receiving with him. His lips tug upwards, because that means Hinata’s actually been listening to his recent constructive criticism of Hinata’s receives.

A tap on his shoulder jerks him from his staring. Kageyama shifts his eyes to find Sugawara standing next to him, arms crossed with a smile smiling. The knowing expression is there again.

“Kageyama,” Sugawara begins. “I’m glad you and Hinata made up.”

Kageyama averts his eyes. Sugawara reads him like a book sometimes. “We never-“

“You can be honest with me. You two are really obvious with your emotions, you know,” Sugawara insists, and Kageyama feels something cold run through his chest. “I can see you two have been very… friendly recently, and it’s great to know you two are getting even closer after your little altercation.”

He peels his eyes away from Sugawara’s intense gaze. He neither denies nor asserts his position or opinion, or at least he intends not to, because he doesn’t want Sugawara knowing how his last sentence affected him.

“That’s really all I wanted to say,” Sugawara smiles, patting Kageyama on the shoulder. “I’m glad Daichi didn’t notice much between you two.” He laughs, and his hand leaves Kageyama’s shoulder, and he turns to leave. 

Just as Kageyama lets out a small breath of relief, because having a senior come have a private discussion with him is stressful, Sugawara swivels to him again with a serious expression. Kageyama jerks his shoulders into a straighter position. 

“Yes?” he asks.

“You know Hinata sees you in a special way, right?” Sugawara says, voice just above a whisper, and Kageyama can’t help but let his eyes widen. Sugawara’s smile is now gone, replaced with an earnest expression. 

The thudding of volleyballs and shoe sole rubber squeaking against polished wooden floors falls deaf on Kageyama’s ears.

_In a special way._

Kageyama grips the front of his jersey at the sudden wave of emotion that rises within. It’s hard to breathe again. 

He raises his gaze, and Sugawara is still wearing a serious expression, yet his eyes are wrinkled with sincerity.

“You… you mean just volleyball, right?” Kageyama corrects. His hands are clammy.

Sugawara’s eyes narrow. “That’s for you to figure out.”

He doesn’t understand. Not necessarily how Hinata sees him in a special way in volleyball, because that’s easy, they have great athletic chemistry, and several killer combinations to their names; but rather, how Hinata sees him in a special way outside of volleyball. If Hinata sees him in some special way at all, outside of the sport. Because for some reason, his chest aches at the notion that- that Hinata sees him as just a teammate, just a friend, just a good player on the team. The idea that Hinata brings anyone over to his house and- and takes _naps_ with them constricts his heart in a way he didn’t know was possible. The idea that Hinata texts anyone, teammate or classmate, about updates of how Maru’s doing during the day, makes him incredibly jealous.

Jealous?

It hurts, but Sugawara’s eyes are so assured, now, that it almost washes away the coast of his miserable confusion.

The whistle rings, knocking Kageyama from the solitude of his mind into the chaos of his surroundings. The metallic noise of volleyballs being thrown into the cart, the sound of gym shoes squeaking against the floor and Daichi’s voice reverberating throughout the gymnasium snap him back to reality. He shares one last look with Sugawara, and he turns to find Hinata staring from across the gym with something like hesitation in his eyes, and he feels uncertainty sprout in his own chest. 

He wonders if Sugawara’s words are plausible.

Later that night, after walking home with Hinata (who is quieter than normal), Kageyama’s phone buzzes. He forgets about his homework when he sees Hinata’s name displayed in white letters against the green text bubbles.

“Hey

want to come over again this friday

i promise i won’t sleep with you accidentally lol”

His heart simultaneously thuds at Hinata’s mention of ‘the incident’ and sinks at the fact that Hinata says it won’t happen again.

It shouldn’t matter, but it does.

“I didn’t really care” is all he can think to send.

Hinata doesn’t respond.

Kageyama’s face gets hotter with every thud in his chest. Did he cross a line? Maybe Hinata doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

He sets his phone down, and his phone buzzes, and the pounding in chest returns again, in full force this time.

“whattt???

about the sleeping too egg

together**^*

haha oops sorry Maru’s licking me

oh what if maru werent there then would you still be okay with it haha”

Kageyama narrows his eyes at the screen through his burning cheeks. He doesn’t know if Hinata’s being casual about the whole ‘incident’- well, he does know, because Hinata’s mentioning Maru licking him and he’s including “haha’s” at the end of his texts.

So when he responds, he’s shed his embarrassment and replaced it with irritation.

“yeah, I would, are you saying that it makes you uncomfortable to sleep alone with me”

There.

The moment he hits “send,” however, he realizes how not inconspicuous he’s being- well, inconspicuous about what?, he asks himself- and he doesn’t know what kind of answer he’ll get, either from himself or Hinata.

Buzz.

“so i guess ill only put out one futon for both of us this friday?”

Kageyama drops his phone with a plop on his bed. First, he’s certain that all the blood in his body has rushed to his face, and second, he’s so angry that Hinata is so blasé about everything, because the image in his mind of him and Hinata sharing a single futon together is too much, and he snaps back a response before he can think.

“WHAT

Hinata, do you just sleep together with anyone you know”

His face is burning.

“Kageyama where did that even come from???? UR A PErVERT”

Kageyama stares at his screen, anger abated for a moment. 

Embarrassment blooms in seconds.

“I DIDNT MEAN IT LIKE THAT HINATA

GOD DAM NIT

SHIT

FUCK

WH WOULD I EVER ASK YOU THAT

why*”

Hinata is quick to respond. He swears Hinata enjoys tormenting him.

“well idk maybe bc ur a pervert”

He wants to scream.

“I’m NOT”

Buzz.

“well to answer ur question no i dont which i know is super hard to believe mr. pervert-yama”

Kageyama huffs at the ridiculous nickname. He’ll pretend to ignore that.

“It was a genuine question”

Because it was, he thinks. Hinata’s answer can prove or disprove Sugawara’s aforementioned theory.

“perverts can have genuine questions”

“Fucking hell,” Kageyama mutters, typing back a response. Hinata’s avoiding his answers like a skilled politician.

“fuck you. answer my question” 

He puts his phone down. Talking with Hinata over text is difficult, but not necessarily for the fault of miscommunication. When he talks to Hinata in real life, everything he feels… sharper, and more focused. But over text, it’s muddled, and everything feels like… less.

It feels better to talk to him in real life, and then he comes up with an idea.

He hits dial.

He places his phone at his ear, and Hinata answers after two rings.

_“Kageyama, why are you calling me? It’s, like, past nine.”_

Hinata’s voice is more hesitant than he expects. It’s shaky and wobbly, unlike his usual bubbly tone.

“Because talking is easier than texting,” Kageyama answers. “And it’s faster.”

 _“Well, yeah, but it’s late,”_ Hinata responds.

“And I also wanted to hear your voice.”

 _“I-“_ Hinata stops. Kageyama hears coughing on the other line. _“Um. Why?”_

Kageyama narrows his eyes at the floor. If Hinata were here, he would have grabbed his head by now. “Because I wanted to! There’s no special reason, dumbass, stop being an idiot!”

_“I didn’t say anything!”_

Kageyama squeezes his phone, digging the nails into his thigh with his other hand. “Never mind. So, you’re really going to get out one futon for us to sleep on together?”

Hinata clears his throat on the other line.

_“Yeah…?”_

Fuck. His heart just… did something strange. Hinata’s voice is so small and innocent over the phone in a way that doesn’t transcribe over text. 

His heart is pounding so hard he’s afraid Hinata might even be able to hear it over the phone. 

Fuck, _shit,_ this is nothing. This is absolutely nothing. He’s just… excited to play volleyball tomorrow, that’s it, nothing special.

_“-yama? Kageyama, you there?”_

Kageyama shakes his head, responding with a quick, “Yeah?” 

_“I don’t know, we can figure it out when we get there,”_ he says. _“But we can finish up our after practice early, after after-school practice, and then head over to my house, okay?”_

“Okay.” So many after’s and before’s makes his head hurt, and he grasps his temple for a moment. “Oh, how’s Maru doing, by the way.”

Kageyama hears something like a rapid inhale. _She’s great!”_ Hinata shouts, and Kageyama is reminded of the inconveniences of talking to Hinata’s high-pitched voice over his cell phone. He holds his phone away from his ear- he can still hear fine. _“Let me just go get her, she’s in the living room!”_

Kageyama hears noises of Hinata shifting around, and he furrows his brows. “Didn’t you just say she was with you?”

The sound of a door opening and closing. _“What, Kageyama?”_

Kageyama huffs. “When we were talking about the sleeping together and-“

More coughing. Is Hinata getting sick? _“I- she just left my room, before you called, and y’know, went to the- to the living room! Don’t ask how I know that!”_

Kageyama makes a grunting noise. “Huh.”

_“Ugh, you’re so- ah, Natsu, stop- oh, she’s here, Kageyama!”_

Cue scuffling and wet lapping noises that makes Kageyama want to gag, only a little, but then he hears Hinata’s voice again. _“She says hi! Say hi back, Kageyama!”_

Kageyama gulps. “H-hi.”

There is a poofing noise on the other end, and giggles, among Hinata’s voice saying, _“Did you hear that, Natsu?”_ More giggles, though more feminine this time.

“What?!” Kageyama demands, pulling the phone from his ear and glaring at the screen. He can tolerate Hinata making fun of him to a certain extent, but involving siblings is a different story. “Hinata, I swear to god-“

_“Sorry, sorry! It’s just so funny when you’re embarrassed-“_

“I wasn’t-!”

 _“I know, I know, defensive Kageyama mode activated, right?”_ Kageyama bites back his words. _“It’s cute when you get flustered, y’know!”_

“W- I’m- that’s not-“

Hinata giggles, and he swears his entire chest area’s transformed into some kind of emotional circus of volatility, because he can’t control the cartwheels and leaps his heart is doing. _“Anyway, I really do have to go to bed now because I’m super tired. Night?”_

Kageyama feels something rise in his chest. Hinata’s pushing and pulling him too fast, and he thinks it’s giving his chest some kind of emotional whiplash, if that’s even possible.

“N-night.”

He hangs up the phone, swearing he hears a shrieking, feminine cheer on the other end as he pushes “End Call.” He lies back down on the bed, crossing a forearm across his forehead. He lets out a deep breath.

He should sleep. He should, but just as he’d expected, speaking to Hinata over the phone made everything feel sharper, and his chest is beating out of his chest, and all his mind seems to want to do is replay what Hinata said, and how he said it, and if his own responses were okay, if they were friendly enough, if they were appropriate, if they weren’t too defensive.

Buzz. His phone rings again with a text alert, and he’s picked it up before he knows what he’s doing.

It’s a picture from Hinata.

He unlocks his phone, and finds a flash selfie of Hinata and Maru sleeping together on Hinata’s bed with another message of “goodnight!,” and he swears something physically grips his chest and constricts it.

Fuck. He’ll never be able to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which hinata pulls out the 'cute' card  
> also if anyone drew fan art of aforementioned hinata w a shiba inu I would probably die forever  
> [ moi writing tumblr ](http:/taiyou-noko.tumblr.com) w future updates of stuff


	6. A Series of Miscommunicative Events

It is a few days later when Kageyama is sitting at his desk in his classroom during break and scrolling through his messages with Hinata to make sure that yes, _today_ is the fated day, that he sees Maru strolling by the front entrance of the school. 

He shoots up in his seat, his chair clattering against the desk behind his. He feels movement of heads around him, but his eyes are glued to the Shiba dog sitting outside of the school building.

His eyes scan the courtyard and find nothing.

Hinata isn’t there. If Hinata isn’t there, then Maru is in danger.

Kageyama bolts out of his classroom, sparing only a second to glance into Hinata’s classroom. Of course he isn’t there when Kageyama needs him. 

Kageyama takes off through the hallways, ignoring the shouts of surprise around him and some high-pitched cry of his name. He is down several stair cases and out of the school doors, taking off towards the dog sitting at the front gates of the school. 

“Maru!” Kageyama cries, approaching the dog. The dog turns to him as if asking, ‘What?’

He furrows his brows. The dog isn’t Maru.

Shit.

The dog doesn’t have a collar, either. A stray, he guesses. He takes a step forward, and the dog only cocks its head. It doesn’t look particularly aggressive. He wonders if he should get closer to the dog- if the dog is wild or just lost. He takes another step.

“Kageyama!” A voice cries. It’s loud and high-pitched, and his mind immediately goes to Hinata. He feels his chest swell again with that _feeling_ as he turns around without his usual scowl that he reserves for strangers that call his name.

What he sees isn’t Hinata running towards him, but a female student he doesn’t think he’s ever seen before. 

By the time the girl is within conversational distance of him, a scowl is plastered on his face.

“Hi,” Kageyama says. He slides his hands into his pockets. “I don’t think I know you.” Or does he? He isn’t sure. Her straight black hair isn’t exactly distinctive.

“I’m Nakamura, from the class next door,” the girl introduces, taking a slight bow. Kageyama returns a small bow out of politeness. “I’ve just- sorry, I’m a little out of breath from running after you- I’ve just seen you around the hallways, and stuff.”

Was she the voice he thought he heard in the hallway a minute ago? 

He stares at her, and the girl averts her eyes from him. It strikes him that it’s strange that some random girl who he previously didn’t know the existence of knows his name. 

The girl’s eyes fall on the dog beside him, and she gasps. “Is that your dog?” she asks, eyes wide.

“Oh, no,” Kageyama answers, looking down at the Shiba dog. It really does look suspiciously like Maru from a distance. Odd. It’s almost like a reminder that he’s going to Hinata’s house again, tonight.

His face feels warm as soon as he reminds himself of his conversation with Hinata, and he shakes his head, muttering under his breath.

“Aw, but it’s so cute!” the girl cries, rushing to its side and staring down at it. Cute. The word, and the dog’s hazelnut hair reminds him of Maru and Hinata, again.

Fuck, he almost says out loud. No. Hinata is not cute. Hinata is not associated with the word cute, at all. 

“Oh, u-um, sorry,” the girl stutters, glancing at Kageyama again. “I, um, well- the reason I followed you outside was because I had something to say to you.”

There is a pause. “Okay,” Kageyama says, hands still in his pockets.

“I, um,” the girl stumbles. She swings her upper body down in a violent bow. “Please go out with me!”

Kageyama blinks. He furrows his brows and narrows his eyes. What?

The girl peeks up after a distinctive pause. “Well, I just, um- I’ve always liked watching you play during volleyball games, because you always look so happy there, especially with that orange-haired boy, Hiro- no, Hinata- and, um-“

“Wait, I look happy when I’m playing with him?” Kageyama cuts in. He didn’t know his expressions were that obvious, least of all that some random girl can see that he’s happy in particular when he’s playing with Hinata.

He didn’t even know he seems happy when he plays with Hinata. Is he?

The girl blinks a couple of times. “Um, yes,” she answers. “And you’re so tall, and composed, and-“

The rest of her words don’t reach Kageyama’s ears. All he can think about is how he’s been reacting to Hinata’s conversations and touches, and he tries to remember if he felt particularly happy or smiled or made it obvious he was happy. The strange glances of his teammates pass through his mind, and he feels his heart begin to beat faster.

Shit.

“-you think you have time?”

“What?” Kageyama says, willing away the heat from his cheeks. No. He doesn’t want this girl getting the wrong message, because to be quite honest, he doesn’t really care if some female classmate thinks he looks cool. All he wants to do is get back to playing volleyball in the gym, very preferably with Hinata, and then hang out with Hinata and Maru tonight.

Though he’d never admit either to Hinata.

He notices the dog still sitting, staring at the two of them. It's calm behavior reminds him of Maru.

“This Saturday, do you think you have time to go to the mall with me? I wanted to go do some shopping, and you could bring that, um, Hinata guy with us, and I could bring a cute girl friend for him-“

_“No!”_ Kageyama shouts, so loud he surprises himself with his own tone. His eyes jump to the girl to find her equally stunned. 

His chest is pounding. Something just fell inside his chest. There's something dark and angry and heavy and stifling. 

It's hard to breathe.

“Hinata isn’t just _some guy,”_ Kageyama begins, with a low tone he’s never even heard himself speak with. “And he doesn’t need a girlfriend.”

It takes everything within him not to raise his voice towards the end- to suppress everything he’s feeling, because his heart is pounding out of his chest at the image of Hinata going out with some girl, and he knows what he’s feeling is jealousy but he doesn’t care, because he’s so fucking pissed off that this girl thinks she can just casually mention Hinata going out with a girl.

“O-okay, then no Hinata, then?” The girl corrects, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. “Do you just want to go on a date alone with me?”

Something like fear paralyzes his chest for a second, and then he realizes that this is that confession that everyone around him idolizes, and then he sees how the girl misinterpreted his words.

“No, I’m sorry, but-“

“No, please!” the girl shouts over him. Something snaps within his chest. “Please, please don’t say no!”

Kageyama narrows his eyes. “Why not?” It comes off more as a statement than a question, and he can’t imagine that his expression comes off very pleasant.

“P-please, at least let me hug you!” the girl pleads, head now bowed down and hands clasped tightly at her chest. “I-I’ve always really wanted to, um-“

“No,” Kageyama insists. He’s treading some fine line between guilt and irritation, and he doesn’t enjoy feeling either. He wonders if confessions are supposed to feel ‘good’, because nothing about this whole process feels like what he’s heard. “I’m sorry, but no.”

He sees the girl’s shoulders jolt, and he averts his eyes. He doesn’t know what else to say, with the girl’s head bowed down and wordless. He doesn’t want to prolong her expectations from him or whatever she’s feeling, because it seems painful.

Kageyama turns to head off, taking a deep breath in and exhaling as he walks away.

As he lets out a deep sigh and takes his hands out of his pockets, there is a pressure against his back and a strange, ticklish feeling around his waist that startles him. He's flooded with the urge to tear it- more accurately, the girl- off immediately, because the sensation foreign and smells too floral and isn’t like when Hinata does it during games.

In all honesty, he wants to pull off the arms from his waist right now and get rid of the strange, flowery perfume that’s taking over the insides of his nostrils, because it all feels wrong. Still, he hesitates to shake her off or rip her arms off him like he does with Hinata, because he doesn’t know if this girl will tell on a teacher or cling on closer or do whatever else she wants to do without caring about how he feels.

And still, it is at this moment, as an unknown girl hugs him from behind, that despite how much he and Hinata argue and fight, that Kageyama realizes that Hinata never makes him uncomfortable, because Hinata is sensitive to how he feels.

He doesn’t know how he’s never noticed that.

_“Bark, bark!”_

The dog below cuts off his thoughts with incessant barking that jolts him. His eyes fall to the ground and the Maru clone dog from before his growling at the girl, and the girl yelps, letting him go. 

Kageyama breathes a sigh of relief, and he wipes the back of his palm across his forehead.

The dog’s behavior reverts his mind back to when he was at Hinata’s house and Maru tried to growl at him when he yelled at Hinata. Hinata’d said it was because Maru sensed hostility in Kageyama and tried to protect Hinata from him, and Kageyama briefly wonders if this dog sensed something as well.

“I- sorry,” the girl apologizes, face turned down. He can’t see her expression. “I’ll go.”

And with that, the girl turns and hurries off the empty courtyard back into the main doors. 

Kageyama feels something wet against his leg, and glances down again to find the wild Shiba dog now sitting on its bottom licking his leg.

“Hey, don’t lick me,” Kageyama mutters, shifting his leg away. The dog gives him one more lick before giving up, seeming content with staring up at him. Kageyama crouches down, inspecting the fur of the dog for a second, before giving its head a little scratch. “Good, uh, boy? Or good girl?” 

The dog moves to lick his hand. It’s not slobbery or dirty, and the corners of his lips tug upwards.

It reminds him a little of Maru, and Hinata, and he can’t help but find it cute.

-

When Kageyama enters the team’s club room after school, ‘chaos’ understates the situation he walks in on.

Tanaka and Nishinoya are yelling and hooting at him, ‘congratulating’ him on the confession from his classmate, and ignoring his explanations that no, he did not accept Nakamura-the-cutest-first-grader-ever’s confession. It’s covered up by the second years’ laughter, and he gives up. 

He plops his bags down on the floor, and he shifts to unpack his bag. He checks inside his locker. He rummages inside his locker, but he can't find the leg brace for his knees that he’ll need for today’s receive-intensive practice.

He leans over to Hinata beside him. “Hinata, do you have extra supporters? I need some for today’s-“

Hinata slams his locker closed, and Kageyama’s eyes widen at the redness of his eyes. Hinata pauses for a second, dashing out of the clubroom before Kageyama can finish his sentence. 

Kageyama blinks, hand frozen on his locker. Something sinks in his chest- something that he wants to grab and pull back up. It’s heavy, and sharp, and it stings.

A heavy silence follows; one that even cuts into Tanaka and Nishinoya’s omnipresent jokes and laughter. 

Kageyama thinks the sound of him swallowing echoes throughout the room. 

“W-what’s up with you guys?” Tanaka begins, scratching the back of his head. His eyes waver between Kageyama and the door Hinata’s just slammed. “You know, you guys’ve been weird recently.”

“Nothing’s wrong-“

“Oh, cut the crap, king,” Tsukishima cuts in, rolling his eyes. Kageyama only manages a weak glare. “You two are so paradoxically obvious and oblivious at the same time, it gives me a headache.”

Kageyama blinks. _Paradoxically obvious and oblivious…?_

Tsukishima snorts, and he lays on his expression of irritation again. “It’s not my fault you two are idiots. You’re just unlucky.” Tsukishima appears pensive for a moment. “Well, lucky for now, I suppose, because the captain isn’t here.” He lets out a single snicker, and leaves.

The rest of the teammates in the room- Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Yamaguchi, who Nishinoya both seem to be wondering the same thing- what?- Kageyama knows he certainly doesn’t have any answers.

The only answer he has is to pretend like nothing is wrong and not let anything affect practice, and then he’ll figure things out from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kageyama is dumb  
> hey did y'all know that college sucks bc stress and stress and stress
> 
> [ tumblr shit ](http:/taiyou-noko.tumblr.com)


	7. Reverberations

Once official after-school practice is over, Daichi gives the team a short lecture, and everyone heads for the doors. Though everyone else seems without a care in the world, while their hearty quips and laughter echo throughout the auditorium, Kageyama feels a sinking feeling again, like he’s done something wrong, especially when Hinata comes in his line of vision.

Wait, shit. Hinata’s about to leave. Kageyama starts, jogging over to where Hinata is walking. 

“Hinata!” he shouts, deciding to ignore the unnecessary amount Hinata’s shoulders jump when he calls his name. Hinata’s pace slows to a halt, and Kageyama manages to tug his lips from a scowl to a somewhat pleasant expression.

They were fine together during practice. Save for, of course, the exasperated glances from Tsukishima and the worried looks from Sugawara, Tanaka, and Nishinoya that he pretended not to see.

Oh, and how Hinata never met his eyes during his sets.

“Hinata, we need to talk,” Kageyama begins, slightly out of breath. Hinata still isn’t turning around to face him, and he swallows again. He sees that only Sugawara and Daichi are left, and they’re just talking at the exit, about to leave. Good. “Hinata-“

“I,” Hinata begins, and Kageyama stops. Hinata’s head is turned down, hair covering his face so Kageyama can’t see his expression. Sugawara and Daichi leave the auditorium. “I’m, um, sorry.”

Kageyama does a double take. “…What?”

He sees Hinata’s clenched fists trembling at his sides. His eyes widen as he trails his gaze up to find Hinata's lips parting, and closing, and parting. “I’m sorry, for letting, my, um-“

Bzz! Bzz!

The ringing of Kageyama’s phone cuts into Hinata’s words, and Hinata pauses again. Kageyama takes it as a signal to check the screen of his cell phone.

Shit. It’s from his mom.

_“Tobio, have you cleaned your room and the first floor yet? If I come home tomorrow morning and nothing’s cleaned, I’m going to take away all your volleyball magazines.”_

“Fuck,” Kageyama curses, and he feels Hinata finally raise his eyes to meet his face. He could almost laugh at how he’d completely forgotten about the chore.

His mother’s words are absolute, and he isn’t going without his volleyball magazines.

“U-um,” Hinata stammers, pulling Kageyama’s gaze away from his phone. Hinata’s eyes dart away when he meets them. “Did you… did something happen?”

“Yeah, something just came up- something important,” Kageyama excuses, typing back a quick response to his mom that _yes,_ he will do as she says. He puts his phone away, but Hinata isn’t facing him anymore. He stares at the side of Hinata’s head, and then suddenly, his mind whooshes to the “hang out” he’d promised with Hinata, and his face gets hot and he fumbles at the cliff of his minuscule vocabulary. “Wait, Hinata, shit, sorry, I can’t stay for tonight’s-“

 _“Fine,”_ Hinata snaps. Something in the atmosphere shifts. “It’s fine if you want to go on a date with that girl.” 

Kageyama starts, then pauses. _Is he hearing right?_

“If that girl is so much better than me, enough for you to bail on me,” Hinata breathes, “Then have fun.” 

Hinata’s shoulders are heaving, up and down, and he still can’t see Hinata’s expression.

Kageyama’s eyes widen like saucers, and he registers a mute pain in his chest. _Girl? Date? What the hell is Hinata talking-_

 _No._ There’s no way Hinata’s talking about the girl from today. The confession, the dog that looked like Maru- there’s no way.

“Hinata, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kageyama states, trying to appear as honest as possible- because he is being honest, he’s not going on a date with that girl from before. “Can you at least-“

“The girl from today! The one who confessed to you in front of the school!” Hinata shouts, and Kageyama gulps again. 

He’s glad that no one else decided to stay for additional practice. 

“You _saw?”_ Kageyama asks.

Hinata finally looks up again. His breath hitches. 

Hinata’s getting teary-eyed.

Something in his chest is burning. Scalding.

“Of course I saw, I thought I saw Maru out of the window and I went out to the courtyard, and,” Hinata sniffles, “And- she was- she was hugging you, and then in the club room people were talking about it, and just- _ugh!”_ Hinata stomps his foot against the floor. 

Kageyama tries to maintain his composure; to not give into his urge to alleviate the pain behind Hinata’s tears. “Why do you care so much?”

Hinata’s eyes snap up to meet his, and _shit,_ he should have changed his phrasing, he should have said something different, should have denied it all, because now he’s complacent in Hinata’s distress and he doesn’t know how to mend the situation.

“I-I-“ Hinata stammers, his face blooming red in some enigmatic mixture of fight and flight. “Of course I- of course I _care,_ it’s not like I have a major crush on you or anything, and we set up a whole time to hang out that I was excited for, and you don’t even care about it at all! You’re just throwing it away for some date with a girl you barely even know!”

Kageyama stills. 

He can't breathe. 

“What?” he manages, his voice cracking.

Hinata did not just say what he thought Hinata said.

Hinata also seems taken aback by Kageyama’s blunt confusion. “I,” Hinata pauses. He stares at Kageyama, seeming to think back on his words. 

His face explodes tomato red.

“I-I-“ Hinata fumbles for words, covering his mouth with his hands. He takes a step away from Kageyama, and Kageyama can do all but watch. Hinata backs away a few more steps until his back touches the gymnasium wall, and his shoulders jerk up straight from the contact. His eyes jump to Kageyama’s, and Kageyama opens his mouth to speak.

And Hinata’s off running.

“Hina- hey, Hinata!” Kageyama calls out, reaching out an arm. Hinata’s gone like a bullet. By the time Kageyama reaches the gymnasium doors, Hinata’s unloading his bike from the bike racks and heading off.

Kageyama opens his mouth to call out Hinata’s name again, but he feels a gripping sensation within his chest.

_It’s not like I have a major crush on you or anything._

Hinata’s words keep reverberating in his skull like some kind of haunting chant, and it’s really beginning to grate on his nerves, because he’s not even sure he’ll _have_ nerves with the way his heart is slamming against his chest and the way the devil and angel of his mind are screaming at him to run and to remain.

Hinata likes him… in _that_ way. Apparently. Unless Hinata is making some huge joke out of this, which is improbable but minutely likely. Maybe.

Kageyama runs both of his hands through his hair. Then again, there’s no way simple-minded, far too frank Hinata could make up that red face, that lost expression, that shaking voice.

There's hesitation in his heart and doubt in his mind, but most of all, there's a foreign flood of happiness in his chest, to his feet, to the tips of his fingers.

He's happy, that Hinata likes him like _that._

-

Kageyama eventually decides to head back home, because sitting around waiting at the gymnasium doesn’t do anything good for his mind or his heart.

Hinata left his belongings in the club room, and it’s a full weekend ahead for them, so Kageyama decides to pack it up the best he can and bring it back home with him.

He wants to ignore the way his face grows hot when he sees the little bottle caps Hinata’s pinned onto his bag, because it breaks down the weak, invisible barrier that's suppressing his feelings. 

Even seeing Hinata’s last name scribbled in messy black marker on his bag makes his heart beat faster.

The walk home is quiet; silent, even. All he hears is the buzzing of cicadas around him, and the occasional scent of tempura shrimp and just made rice wafting from the homes he passes by.

Without Hinata, he feels a little empty.

It’s like something that should be there, isn’t. Hinata’s laughter, Hinata’s smile, Hinata’s giggling isn’t beside him, and all he has is Hinata’s physical bags. All the result of his own actions.

Just as he realizes that he’d never do something like this for any other teammate, Kageyama recognizes what he is feeling to be longing.

Longing, for someone special to him. Someone that he’d willingly do special things for.

And he recalls Sugawara’s words; _Hinata sees you in a special way._

His feet come to a pause on the dark, paved concrete.

Alone, carrying Hinata’s forgotten (more so intentionally left) school bags, Kageyama realizes what his feelings that have gnawed at him ever since Hinata began texting him about dogs, mean.

-

The moment he finds himself at the doorstep of Hinata’s home, he freezes. His feet are glued to the ground.

Hinata’s bag weighs heavy on his shoulder.

No.

 _You’re doing this for Hinata. You’re doing this to be honest with him,_ Kageyama reminds himself, because it’s not fair for him to relax in the luxury of uncommunicated feelings while Hinata suffers at the expense of his own hastiness, and before he can let the uncertainty cloud his mind once more, he’s pressing the doorbell.

The sound of the bell ringing sends a jolt through his shoulders, causing Hinata’s bag to fall from the groove of his shoulder. He shoves it back up. He should’ve expected the noise, but even the air seems to grate on his nerves.

He hears the pitter-patter of approaching footsteps, and his heart brims with nervousness. Excitement.

The door swings open, and he’s greeted with the familiar poof of orange hair, and his gaze falls and he has to bite back a smile because he hadn’t expected Hinata to answer the door so quickly-

“Kageyama Tobio!” A loud, high-pitched voice calls out, and his heart stops for a moment. 

That isn’t Hinata’s voice.

He lowers his gaze a little to find not Hinata Shouyou, but a small girl who must be Hinata’s little sister, Natsu, at the door.

“You know who I am?” Kageyama begins, dumbly.

“Well, yeah! Big brother talks about you all the time!” Kageyama curses the spike of elation that rises in his chest. “And he says you’re a big tall guy with dark hair and dark eyes, and that you’re stupid, but really good at volleyball!”

“He said I’m-“ Kageyama begins, chest growing warm, before he sees the genuine grin on Hinata’s little sister’s face. _Natsu,_ he reminds himself. 

He can yell at Hinata later for making fun of him to his sister.

“Is Hinata- I mean, your brother home?” Kageyama asks. He finds the need to lower his gaze so far to converse with another person foreign.

Natsu clasps her hands behind her back, her feet shifting back and forth on the tiles of the entranceway. Her words, on the other hand, are not so carefree. “He’s in his room,” Natsu says, her gaze drooping. He thinks he sees the light fade a little in her eyes, and he gulps. “I don’t think he’s feeling good.”

“Oh,” Kageyama manages. The extra bag on his shoulder feels even heavier now. 

“Is that big brother’s bag?” Natsu says, and Kageyama blinks. She’s pointing towards his shoulder, and he nods. “Did he forget it at school?”

“Yeah,” Kageyama admits. Her question reminds him of Hinata’s words and his own lack of them, and Hinata’s weak, fake expression-

He doesn’t expect the small giggle Natsu emits that breaks him from his reverie. He thinks it might be a little refreshing.

Natsu starts, taking a step forwards to grab the bag, and Kageyama places a hand over the strap. “Tobio, I can-“

“No, it’s fine, I’ll take it to him,” Kageyama interrupts, cursing himself for the small frown that crosses over the girl’s face. He never was good with children, he thinks, but that is an issue that can be resolved in the future.

Or, not, because Natsu takes his hand, saying, “I can show you the way to his room, Tobio!”, frown disappeared and replaced with a bright smile, and he’s kicking off his shoes faster than he’s kicked off his shoes ever before and running down the hallway towards Hinata’s room.

He has a confession to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of you may have realized this by now but i am big on alliterations and doing things w syntax (apparently ap classes did do something for me after all: helping me writing gay fan fiction)  
> [ toomblr ](http:/taiyou-noko.tumblr.com)


	8. Heard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some 'important' info below the cut
> 
> happy kagehina day y'all!!!

An enormous set of doors looms before them. A light fog rolls out from underneath the crack of the fusuma doors; darkness surrounds him and Hinata Natsu, the only defense his words and his fists. 

At least, that’s what it feels like in his mind.

“He hasn’t come out of his room since he got home!” Natsu warns, attitude rather high and large for someone so much smaller than him, but if anything, he needs it, because he thinks his hands are trembling a little and his heart has been replaced with some set of Taiko drum players. “Oh, and Maru’s in there, too!”

Kageyama nods a little too quickly in response. He still can’t get over the feeling that he’s going to fight some unpredictable boss battle.

“Well, have fun, Tobio!” Natsu practically yells, and Kageyama winces internally. It’s not that he hadn’t wanted Hinata to hear him coming- it’s that he’d wanted some more time to prepare himself physically and emotionally before the ordeal began.

At least, he tells himself that in his mind.

By the time Kageyama is sure that he hears Natsu run off down the corridors, entering some other room in the house and most importantly out of ear’s reach, he straightens his back, and faces the door.

Hinata may have already- well, probably already did, this is a traditional Japanese door, it barely blocks any sound- heard him, so he has to act fast, or else Hinata’s going to worry. Or worse, escape.

Which is, obviously, the exact opposite of what he wants.

Kageyama places his hand at the handle of the fusuma door. This is it, he thinks, exhaling.

And he shoves it open.

The room is black, save for the light that his own figure is blocking that streams in from the hallway, creating a little yellow pathway into the room. 

“Hinata?” Kageyama whispers. He takes a hesitant step forward, sliding the door halfway closed behind him. 

The light is in here somewhere. He has to get to the light switch. Hinata might already be asleep, or ignoring him, the latter worse than the former, and he-

“Shit!” Kageyama mutters, feeling something wet against his leg. He kicks his leg backwards, and feels the sensation on his other leg.

Then, a whine.

“Oh, Maru,” Kageyama realizes. He can barely make out her light orange form against the yellow-green of the tatami. He bends down to pet her head. “Hey.” He rests his hand between her ears, shifting to the back of her ears for a few seconds more before heading to the center of the room.

He pulls the small string of the lamp, and light floods the room. After a few painful seconds for his eyes, he sees it all.

A single pure white futon set out in the room, two pillows at the head of the bed. Atop, a tiny curled up ball of blue blanket.

Kageyama stares at the two pillows, his eyes widening. 

His chest hurts.

“Hinata.” The name spills from his lips faster than he can think. “Hinata.”

There is no response.

He takes a slow step towards the curled up wad of blanket and Hinata, and takes another. And then, another. Maru glances up at him from below, seeming to understand his intentions, and trots forward alongside him. 

In a few steps, he hovers above the mush of blanket that seems impossibly too small for a teenage boy. He crouches down, his expression solemn, and reaches a hand forward. His hand hesitates, and he turns away for a moment, cursing the fragility of his will.

And then, he taps the blanket. And taps again. And again.

“Hinata,” Kageyama whispers. He narrows his eyes. “Hinata, wake up.”

Doubt begins to cloud his mind again, and he finds himself wondering if things are not meant to be for tonight, maybe he should just drop off Hinata’s bag and go-

And that’s when Maru jumps onto the mass of blankets.

“M-Maru, hey, stop,” Kageyama babbles, trying to grab the ball of quivering dog energy, but Maru seems intent on hopping all over the blanket. She isn’t even yipping, or barking, she’s just jumping over Hinata like he’s some trampoline, and Kageyama bites his lip.

It turns out that no amount of self-preparation could’ve prepared him for the real, live Hinata.

“Natsu, stop it,” Hinata moans, and his voice is coarse and small, too small for the bright ball of sunshine that is Hinata Shouyou. 

It sounds like he’s been crying, and Kageyama's heart is overcome with pain.

“Or, Maru, hey,” Hinata murmurs, and the blanket ball begins to move like some kind of alien lifeform, poking and bending every which way, until an arm pops out, and then a leg, and then another arm, and then a head. “Maru, hey- _ah!”_

Kageyama also jumps at the scream that pierces the air. “Hinata, what the-“

“K-Kageyama?! What are you-“ Hinata attempts to crawl back, before slipping on some knot in the blanket and falling on his side, to which Maru showers him in dog kisses. “M-Maru, stop it!”

“Hinata, I had to tell you something-“

“No! I don’t want to hear anything!” Hinata shouts, covering his head with the blanket again, and Maru changes tactics from jumping and licking to sitting and whining at his side. 

The words sting more than he thinks they should, and Kageyama swallows down his own share of immature retorts.

He takes a deep breath before proceeding. “Hinata, can you please listen to me,” he begins, less request and more demand. He sees the cowering Hinata blanket freeze for a moment, and he keeps going. “I…” The words clog in the back of his throat. He knows it’s requited, and it still feels impossible.

“I like you, too,” he says. When he says the words, he knows they’re right, because relief floods his chest and he can’t fight off the small grin that pulls the corners of his lips upwards. “I like you, idiot.”

He repeats the words again, because Hinata isn’t moving underneath his blanket, and because he can. “I like you.”

Hinata yanks off the blanket from himself, and in a flurry, Kageyama finds a very red-faced, teary-eyed Hinata climbing over him.

“You mean as more than a friend, right?” Hinata says- no, demands- tugging at the collar of his jacket, and Kageyama gulps, because the tears in the corners of Hinata's eyes both pulls at his heart strings and makes him feel like he's flying, and also because Hinata looks so damn _cute_ right now.

His gaze falls for a moment to Hinata’s lips. Kissable, he corrects. “Yeah,” he answers. “That’s why I came all the way to your house, dumbass.”

Hinata blinks, gaze flittering away for a moment before returning to his eyes again. “I- um, what about your date…?”

Kageyama’s brows furrow farther than he thinks they ever have before. “What _date?”_

The hopeful light in Hinata’s eyes stay, but the corners of his lips fall. “Um, the one with that- girl.”

“I told you I rejected her,” Kageyama corrects, narrowing his eyes at Hinata. “Hinata, did you not hear me in the gym?”

“You never said you rejected her!” Hinata cries out, eyes desperate, and Kageyama feels a tug in his heart.

But first, the need to get some sense into Hinata overrides his sympathy. He grabs the top of Hinata’s hair in a loose grip, and sees Hinata’s eyes snap to meet his with some strange mix of fear and expectancy. 

“If you had listened to me in the gym, without running off, you would’ve heard me say I rejected her, you dumbass,” Kageyama insists, not letting go of their shared gaze for a moment. “And-“

“But you were hugging her-“

“I didn’t fucking _hug_ her,” Kageyama corrects. _“I_ didn’t hug her, _she_ latched on to _me_ after I said no,” Kageyama argues, scowling. He gazes off to the side, remembering the uncomfortable flowery scent of what he assumed to be her perfume. It all felt wrong, and all he could think back on was _Hinata’s_ face, _Hinata’s_ touch, _Hinata’s_ stupid everything. “I don’t know why you’re assuming I’m going on some date with her, because that’s idiotic, even for you.”

He sees a spark of hope in Hinata’s eyes that dies just as quickly. 

“I- but,” Hinata starts, biting his lip, “You said you texted someone important, on your phone-“

“That was a text from my _mom,_ telling me to clean my house, you colossal _dumbass,”_ Kageyama asserts, sighing. He scratches his hair. “You seriously think that even if I liked that girl, I’d overlap over arranged plans with you?” He sees something like hope dart through Hinata’s eyes, and softens his glare. “I’m not that much of an asshole.”

Hinata is frozen. Then, he starts, opening his mouth, before closing it again, and looking off. Hinata’s face is starting to get pink, and Kageyama glares, clenching a fist at his side.

He might enjoy it, just a little, when Hinata looks like this.

“Say something if you want to, dumbass.”

“W-well, um, I’m, um, sorry for acting so… immature,” Hinata manages, scratching his temple with his pointer finger. 

Kageyama just wants to- to hug him. And so he does. 

Hinata squeals as he is pulled forward, his face diving into Kageyama’s chest. He seems dazed for a moment, before his forehead inches up to meet Kageyama’s stare, and he yelps again. 

“Quit it, idiot,” Kageyama murmurs, letting go of Hinata’s collar and grasping his wrist with his hand. His eyes widen at the hand that lightly trembles in his own palm. 

Hinata seems to accept his fate, burying his face into Kageyama’s chest once more. “I can’t believe it,” he whispers, head turned to the side just enough so that Kageyama can see his pink cheeks. “I can’t believe you… me, too.”

“What was that?” Kageyama asks, feigning innocence. 

Hinata’s gaze jumps to meet his. “I can see your stupid grin! I know you’re teasing me!” Hinata cries, using his arms to shove himself up so he’s eye to eye with Kageyama again. “Stop it!”

“Yeah, because you’re being a dumbass,” Kageyama says, lips relaxing into a smaller, yet more genuine grin. “Dumbass.”

Hinata’s face poofs into a flurry of cherry blossom pink, and he buries his face into Kageyama’s chest again. “Ugh, I hate you.”

“Yeah, I like you too,” Kageyama says, giving a small snort. He enjoys the warmth of Hinata against him, for the moment. He notices Maru besides them, eyes closed and sprawled out on the floor, passed out, and he also notices the bag that he hasn’t yet mentioned.

“Hinata, your bag,” Kageyama says, jostling Hinata’s weight on his stomach. “I brought it for you from the club room.”

“You brought my bag for me?” Hinata’s head pops up again, gaze wandering for a moment before noticing his bottle cap-pinned bag sitting beside his futon. “Oh, Kageyama, I was worried about it, thanks!” And he smiles wide.

Kageyama gulps. Hinata’s eye-to-eye with him again, and he’s giving his infamously bright Hinata smile that reminds him why he was named like so, and they’re together, in his room.

“I want to kiss you,” Kageyama admits, the words falling from his lips like sand in an hourglass. He can’t help the blush that grows in his cheeks as he watches Hinata’s own go red. At Hinata’s sputtering mouth, he realizes the slight selfishness of his words, and changes them. “Can I?”

He does expect Hinata to continue spluttering nonsense. What he doesn’t expect is for Hinata to dive face first into his chest again, wrapping his arms around his back.

“You’re the most embarrassing person in the world,” Hinata murmurs into his chest, and Kageyama thinks back on his words and agrees internally. “But I like you.”

"So," Kageyama begins, watching the top of Hinata's orange poofball of hair. "...Yes?"

"D-don't make me say it!" Hinata protests, the words beginning at his chest and ending aimed directly at Kageyama, and Kageyama smirks. He waits while Hinata's eyes wander, his grip clenching at his back. He erases the smirk from his face, because he knows Hinata doesn't do well with rubbed in condescension, so he channels his patience and erases the smirk from his face- and that does it.

"Fine! Yes, I do want to k-kiss you!" And then, Hinata’s raising his face up, and Kageyama’s wrapping an arm around Hinata’s back, pulling him closer in, and Hinata’s shutting his eyelids and so is he.

His mouth comes in contact with warmth; warm, and a little wet, and he thinks he can feel Hinata’s lips turn up into a small smile against his own, and he smiles, too, because his chest is humming and his heart is pounding, but it’s in a nice, reassured way; reassured by requited like, and Hinata warm, against him.

They pull apart for a moment, before coming in contact again, warm and humming, warm and humming. He feels everything, from the little pants of hot air from Hinata’s nose against his own, to Hinata’s hands gripping at his back for stability, to Hinata’s legs against his.

In hindsight, resisting admitting his feelings seems an idiotic course of action. 

Their lips part again, and Kageyama realizes that his mind has gone a little numb. Hinata seems to be thinking the same, because his eyes are glossed over and his cheeks covered in a dusting of pink.

“That was good,” Kageyama says, the first one to speak. “Great.”

Hinata nods, a little dumbly. “Y-yeah,” he says, head turning to rest against Kageyama’s chest. He feels something inside sink at the realization that they won’t be kissing anymore, until it’s warmed by the sensation of Hinata resting against him. 

Hinata tenses. “Kageyama.”

Kageyama looks down, furrowing his brows. “What?”

“Kageyama, was Maru there the whole time,” Hinata asks, more of a demand than an innocent question. Kageyama swallows, eyes trailing over to where Maru is most definitely sleeping on the floor. He’d never even thought to move her, he’d been so distracted by- by everything else that was happening.

“Yeah,” Kageyama admits, nodding slowly despite the fact that Hinata can’t see him doing so. “She’s been sleeping this whole time, anyway-“

“You didn’t tell me she was right there?!” Hinata snaps up, face red once more, though this time not so pleasantly. 

Kageyama scowls. “She was jumping all over you a few seconds ago! Didn’t you remember she was in the room?”

Hinata mutters under his breath, rolling his eyes and seemingly imitating Kageyama’s manner of speaking, before retorting, “Well, yeah, but I didn’t see her when the whole- when the whole kissing thing was happening! You could’ve warned me!”

Kageyama glances over at Maru again, whose eyes are blearily blinking; she must’ve awakened hearing their heated voices and repeated use of her name. “Idiot, you woke her up,” Kageyama says, gesturing towards her with his chin.

Hinata’s gaze flies over to Maru, and he bites his lip. “Ugh, poor Maru, still so young to see such things,” he cooes, petting her head. 

Kageyama glares at Hinata. “Stop making it such a big deal, dumbass.”

“Maybe you should tell your boyfriend the next time you start making out with him in front of his dog, dumbass,” Hinata mutters, imitating Kageyama’s voice in a way that does not sound like him. And then, he realizes.

“You just called me your boyfriend,” Kageyama points out. He leans in. He grins at the slow-dawning realization in Hinata’s eyes. 

“W-what?!” Hinata shouts, before a kiss is being pressed to his lips again. It’s a quick peck on the lips, but it makes Hinata explode into a blush. 

“K-Kageyama! I told you to warn me, first!” Hinata cries, covering Maru’s eyes with the palm of his hand. Maru, on the other hand, pokes her nose every which way in the air, confused. “Maru’s practically a baby!”

Kageyama stops, glancing at the Shiba dog that attempts to duck out from under Hinata’s hand. “Oh,” he says, face going a little red and guilt weighing on his chest. “Wait, does she even know what we’re doing?”

“Probably!” Hinata nods furiously. “She probably thinks it’s some version of human sex, or something!”

Kageyama blinks, staring down at Hinata. “Shit,” Kageyama admits. The idea does make him feel a little terrible. “Uh… Sorry?”

“Why the question mark, you big idiot,” Hinata mumbles, removing his hand from in front of Maru’s face to hug her around her stomach and perch her in his lap. “No more kissing, Kageyama.”

Kageyama stares at Hinata for a moment, heart tugged every which way, the desire strong to kick out Maru and kiss Hinata all night long, curled up in his stupid blue blanket.

His desire to sleep, however, overpowers his more mature desires, and he ends up shifting over to Hinata’s side, wrapping an arm around him and Maru in the wake, and pulling them down. 

“H-hey, Kage- ah!” Hinata makes some noise as he goes down, though he stops as he seems to notice Kageyama’s relaxed breathing. “Kageyama, are you going to bed?”

“Yeah, I’m tired,” is his obvious answer, and he pulls in Hinata closer to him. Maru snuggles up in between them, and then she rolls over to expose her stomach to the air. Kageyama lamely pats her stomach with his free hand. 

“Kageyama,” Hinata begins, edging his head closer to Kageyama’s forehead, before placing a wet kiss against his temple. “Hehe.”

Kageyama shifts his head up, giving a weak glare. “Hinata, I thought you said no more kissing.”

“I know, but I couldn’t really resist,” Hinata beams, and Kageyama feels his chest go a little weak.

No, he really can’t resist Hinata either.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that is the official conclusion for this short fic. i hope everyone enjoyed and thank you so much for your kind comments and kudos!!!! they make me super happy and i appreciate them so much, i understand that it takes a lot of time and energy to write a comment, so thank you all.
> 
> (just made everyone wait for the final chapter so I could post it on 9/10 and contribute to the infamous kagehina day :))
> 
> as for future things- i am currently writing another longer kagehina fic. i have this thing where I don't start posting until I've finished writing the entire story (yes this fic took 3-4 months to write, edit, and finalize, not just two weeks) or else i never finish posting the entire thing, so the beginning of posting that should be... a few months, to be honest. not sure. (college is unpredictable and so is my life in general soo i am not giving concrete dates)
> 
> but i will give one hint: italy :) 
> 
> do with that what you will.
> 
> I will post updates regarding future things on [ my tumblr ](http:/taiyou-noko.tumblr.com) so you can follow that and wait for updates, if you happen to like my writing and would like to see more of it!

**Author's Note:**

> oh yes. dogs.  
> I actually lost the link to the first video I mention- I know it's on tumblr, somewhere, floating in that deep, dark spacetime void, but I have no idea where it is. If someone knows which one I'm referring to and linked me it, I would be eternally grateful  
> [writing tumblr](http://taiyou-noko.tumblr.com/) for kagehina writing stuff that will contain future updates, just nothing yet


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